Six P-L-E-As for Healthy Swimming

YOU CAN CHOOSE TO SWIM HEALTHY!
Healthy swimming behaviors are needed to protect you and your kids from recreational water illnesses and will help stop germs from getting in the pool in the first place.
Here are six “P-L-E-As” that promote healthy swimming:

THREE “P-L-E-As” FOR ALL SWIMMERS
PLEASE don’t swim when you have diarrhea. . . This is especially important for kids in diapers. You can spread the germs into the water and make other people sick.

PLEASE don’t swallow the pool water. In fact, try your best to avoid even having water get in your mouth.

PLEASE wash your hands with soap and water after using the toilet or after changing diapers. You can protect others by being aware that germs on your body end up in the water.

THREE “P-L-E-As” FOR PARENTS WITH YOUNG KIDS
Follow these “P-L-E-As” to protect your child and others from getting sick and to help keep recreational water illnesses out of your community:
PLEASE take your kids on bathroom breaks often. Waiting to hear “I have to go” may mean that it is too late.

PLEASE change diapers in a bathroom and not at poolside. Germs can spread to surfaces and objects in and around the pool and spread illness.

PLEASE wash your child thoroughly (especially the rear end) with soap and water before swimming. We all have invisible amounts of fecal matter on our bottoms that end up in the pool.

To learn more about recreational water illnesses (RWIs) visit the following website:
www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming

Reprinted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Infectious Diseases, a Division of Parasitic Diseases.
SIX PLEAs FOR HEALTHY SWIMMING

Download a printable PDF: BUL-702-SIX PEAs FOR HEALTHY SWIMMING

Bulletin #702