Messages of Child Drowning Prevention: A Review of Newspaper Coverage from Midwestern Regional Papers

Background: Drowning remains the second leading cause of injury-related death among children ages one to 14 in the United States. The media, such as newspapers, and health professionals often have the opportunity to disseminate drowning prevention tips, such as those presented in the Safe Kids campaigns. This study sought to understand the print media’s inclusion of water safety and prevention message in stories related to child drowning. Methods: A content analysis was conducted to identify the inclusion of prevention and water safety messages with child drowning and near-drowning incidents reported in newspapers from the Midwest US. Results: Newspaper articles including specific prevention and water safety messages within the text were identified. About 50 % of the child drowning articles did not contain a prevention or water safety message. At least one of the four primary safety messages proposed through Safe Kids was present in 29.52 % of the reviewed articles, however, only 5.29 % of the articles included all four water safety messages. Entrapment was noted in 3.52 % of the articles; only one article (0.44%) contained a message advocating for policy change. Conclusions: Drowning or near-drowning incidents provide an opportunity for the media to educate the public regarding drowning prevention and water safety. The lack of prevention information included in such articles suggests a need for media education on the benefit to accompany child drowning stories with appropriate prevention messages. KJM 2009; 2(4):87-91