Three Benefits Of Enrolling Your Child In Swim Lessons

When you're thinking about enrolling your child in swim lessons, one of your main reasons will likely be related to safety. Children who are comfortable in and around the water are less likely to become a statistic; behind motor vehicle accidents, drowning is the second-leading cause of injury-caused death for children under the age of 14. Beyond keeping your child safe, however, there are multiple reasons that swim lessons are a smart choice. Here are three reasons that can help remind you of the value of swim lessons for your child.

Swimming Counts Toward Daily Physical Exercise

It's common sense that swimming can help your child keep physically active, but a concerning percentage of youth don't exercise enough -- about 75 percent of children between the ages of five and 10 don't meet the recommendation for daily exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation is that children should be physically active for 60 minutes per day. If you find that your child's time spent on the computer or in front of the television is affecting his or her ability to meet the CDC recommendation for daily exercise, attending one or two swim lessons per week can provide a much-needed boost of physical activity.

Swimming Provides A Solid Caloric Burn

Swimming is an effective way to burn calories, which is important even if your child doesn't need to lose weight. While this activity can certainly help a child who is overweight, burning calories is an important way to maintain weight, too. The rate that your child will burn calories while swimming depends on his or her weight and the length of the lesson, but swimming offers a faster caloric burn than many other forms of cardiovascular exercise. Learning to use exercise as a way to lose or maintain weight is an important habit that your child can learn at a young age and continue to implement in the years ahead.

Swimming Can Have Emotional Benefits

Enrolling your child in swim lessons can provide more than physical health benefits. Learning to swim can improve your child's self-esteem, which is valuable at any young age. A child who has previously struggled with self-esteem might feel particularly adept in the pool, which can change the child's view about him or herself. Additional emotional benefits of swim lessons include teaching the child the satisfaction of having a goal and working to achieve it, learning the importance of making a commitment to a group and even finding a fun way to reduce stress.

To learn more about swim lessons, contact a company like YMCA of Greater Cincinnati.