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Home › Articles › Toddler Health › Pool Air Quality and Breathing Problems in Infants

Pool Air Quality and Breathing Problems in Infants

Can Swimming Early Mean Reduced Lung Function Later in Life?

By Teri Brown

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Are swimming pools safe for your baby? Infant swimming lessons are gaining in popularity as worried parents try to prevent drowning accidents. Most preschools and daycare centers offer swim lessons, and national swimming programs geared toward toddlers abound.

Some experts believe that swimming lessons for infants and toddlers may help prevent drowning accidents. The American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees. In a 2003 policy statement, the AAP writes, "Children are generally not developmentally ready for formal swimming lessons until after their fourth birthday ... Ultimately, the decision of when to start a child in swimming lessons must be individualized. Parents should be reminded that swimming lessons will not provide 'drown proofing' for children of any age."

Now, a study out of Belgium suggests that there may be more reasons to keep your baby out of the pool. The study, "Infant Swimming Practice, Pulmonary Epithelium Integrity, and Risk of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases Later in Childhood," examined the role indoor chlorinated pools play in the development of asthma and reduced lung function. It found that trichloramine, a chlorine byproduct, is one of the most concentrated air pollutants to which children of developed countries are regularly exposed.

The authors of the study say that this pollutant, along with other aerosolized chlorine-based oxidants, can be associated with airway changes that predispose children to asthma and recurrent bronchitis later in childhood.

Is There a Threat?

Other experts are more skeptical of the threat. Dr. Timothy Doran, a pediatrician from Greater Baltimore Medical Center, is one of those experts. He says that not only was the study small (a small group of 43 children with asthma and who had taken indoor swimming were compared to a group who did not take swim lessons), the group of children who swam as infants also had parents who smoked cigarettes at a higher rate than the control group.


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