More than half of British mums say they won’t teach their children how to swim because they worry about being seen in a swimming costume, a new survey claims.
The study by leisure centre operator Everyone Active found that 65% of mums feel judged when they put on a bikini or swimsuit, which is leading to them not wanting to take their child swimming.
In fact, 38% of the women surveyed said that they have avoided all water based activities for that exact reason.
This is having a knock on effect of their children, with many respondents expressing concerns that their child lacks confidence in the water.
One in ten mums surveyed revealed that their child can’t swim and over a third of mums didn’t consider their child “a strong swimmer”.
Olympian Becky Adlington, who runs the Swim Stars Learn to Swim programme, said: “It is such a shame seeing these statistics.”
“Swimming is an amazing sport with so many health benefits and for kids it’s even more important with it being a life skill.”
“It’s given me a lifetime of happy memories and I would hate to think how many other families are missing out.”
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Via Becky Adlington Swim Stars