#SaludTues Tweetchat 6/20: How Swimming Can Change Lives

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Drowning is the No. 2 cause of death for toddlers. Many others suffer submersion injuries that may cause major brain injuries, especially among minority children.

Why is this?

Many Latino and other minority children can’t swim and lack access to swimming lessons and pools, which can cause a fear of water. This, in turn, can increase their risk of drowning and lessen their chances of participating in beneficial physical activity in water, from swimming to underwater handstands to water skiing and tubing.

Latino children need access to places to learn to swim, which also has been proven to increase children’s confidence, motor skills, and academic achievement.

Let’s use #SaludTues on June 20, 2017, to tweet about how great swimming is and how to improve Latino kid’s access to swimming lessons and facilities to decrease their risk of drowning and boost their water activity options:

• WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “How Swimming Can Change Lives”
• TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (12-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, June 20, 2017
• WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
• HOST: @SaludToday
• CO-HOSTS: USA Swim Foundation (@SwimFoundation); Pool Safely (@PoolSafely);

We’ll open the floor to your stories and experiences as we explore:

• How can increasing access to pools to and swimming programs save lives.
• What are families, schools and communities doing to prevent drownings.
• What can city leaders do to promote equity in access to swimming programs and pools.

“Access to swimming facilities is more than a recreational issue, it is a public health and civil rights issue, especially for minority children,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of SaludToday at UT Health San Antonio.

“Together we can find new ways to bring the benefits of swimming—physical activity, use of major muscle groups, low injury rate—to open the door to lifelong water activities for Latino kids.”

Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter and share your strategies to boost opportunities for swimming!

See our full Tweetchat schedule.

#SaludTues is a weekly Tweetchat about Latino health at 12p CST/1p ET every Tuesday and hosted by @SaludToday, the Latino health social media campaign for the team at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio.