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What makes children learn how to swim? – health, lifestyle and environmental factors associated with swimming ability among children in the city of Malmö, Sweden

Lõhmus, Mare LU ; Osooli, Mehdi LU orcid ; Pilgaard, Frida I.H. LU ; Östergren, Per Olof LU ; Olin, Anna ; Kling, Stefan LU ; Albin, Maria LU and Björk, Jonas LU (2022) In BMC Pediatrics 22(1).
Abstract

Background: Swimming ability among children in the city of Malmö, Sweden is strongly affected by socioeconomic differences. We investigated to what extent mediating health and lifestyle factors, such as children’s eating, sleeping and physical activity habits, as well as the characteristics of the social and working environment at both school and home, could explain the socioeconomic gradient in swimming ability. Methods: Our study population included children who started their first-grade school-year in 2012 or 2013 at any of the public primary schools of Malmö, Sweden. Cross-sectional, self-reported questionnaire-based data about health status and swimming ability in the fourth grade (age 10) were included from the Pupil Health... (More)

Background: Swimming ability among children in the city of Malmö, Sweden is strongly affected by socioeconomic differences. We investigated to what extent mediating health and lifestyle factors, such as children’s eating, sleeping and physical activity habits, as well as the characteristics of the social and working environment at both school and home, could explain the socioeconomic gradient in swimming ability. Methods: Our study population included children who started their first-grade school-year in 2012 or 2013 at any of the public primary schools of Malmö, Sweden. Cross-sectional, self-reported questionnaire-based data about health status and swimming ability in the fourth grade (age 10) were included from the Pupil Health Database (ELSA) for 3468 children. Results: Children’s self-reported swimming ability was strongly associated with both individual- and school-based sociodemographic variables. Nine health, lifestyle and environmental variables were identified as potential mediators and included in the final model. Four of these variables, “Activity”, “Outdoor time”, “Social relationships at home and on the free time”, and “Positivity about future”, were significantly and positively associated with children’s ability to swim. Conclusions: Social support, optimism for the future and an active lifestyle were positively associated with children’s swimming skills; however, compared to the socioeconomic factors, these health- and lifestyle factors contributed very little. It is possible, that interventions concerning children’s swimming ability in lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods, should in addition to children’s swimming lessons, target the whole families with the goal of increasing their possibilities for socialising and engaging in different kinds of recreational activities.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Exercise, Social support, Socioeconomic factors, Swimming, Wellbeing
in
BMC Pediatrics
volume
22
issue
1
article number
32
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85122690192
  • pmid:35012493
ISSN
1471-2431
DOI
10.1186/s12887-021-03094-0
project
Sustainable outdoor living environments – systematic interdisciplinary studies of health effects and impact on social inequalities
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5d680418-e691-403e-b9d6-074fa4bd8b9e
date added to LUP
2022-03-01 12:06:50
date last changed
2024-06-13 11:09:32
@article{5d680418-e691-403e-b9d6-074fa4bd8b9e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Swimming ability among children in the city of Malmö, Sweden is strongly affected by socioeconomic differences. We investigated to what extent mediating health and lifestyle factors, such as children’s eating, sleeping and physical activity habits, as well as the characteristics of the social and working environment at both school and home, could explain the socioeconomic gradient in swimming ability. Methods: Our study population included children who started their first-grade school-year in 2012 or 2013 at any of the public primary schools of Malmö, Sweden. Cross-sectional, self-reported questionnaire-based data about health status and swimming ability in the fourth grade (age 10) were included from the Pupil Health Database (ELSA) for 3468 children. Results: Children’s self-reported swimming ability was strongly associated with both individual- and school-based sociodemographic variables. Nine health, lifestyle and environmental variables were identified as potential mediators and included in the final model. Four of these variables, “Activity”, “Outdoor time”, “Social relationships at home and on the free time”, and “Positivity about future”, were significantly and positively associated with children’s ability to swim. Conclusions: Social support, optimism for the future and an active lifestyle were positively associated with children’s swimming skills; however, compared to the socioeconomic factors, these health- and lifestyle factors contributed very little. It is possible, that interventions concerning children’s swimming ability in lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods, should in addition to children’s swimming lessons, target the whole families with the goal of increasing their possibilities for socialising and engaging in different kinds of recreational activities.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lõhmus, Mare and Osooli, Mehdi and Pilgaard, Frida I.H. and Östergren, Per Olof and Olin, Anna and Kling, Stefan and Albin, Maria and Björk, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{1471-2431}},
  keywords     = {{Exercise; Social support; Socioeconomic factors; Swimming; Wellbeing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Pediatrics}},
  title        = {{What makes children learn how to swim? – health, lifestyle and environmental factors associated with swimming ability among children in the city of Malmö, Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12887-021-03094-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12887-021-03094-0}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}