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Swimming is a fun activity for both children and adults. However, have you ever heard the advice not to swim immediately after eating and have to wait up to an hour?
Yes, this seems to be a magic sentence that is often uttered by parents all over the world to their children not to swim immediately after eating. The reasons that are often cited include drowning due to stomach cramps.
However, sometimes parents don't know exactly whether what they say is true or not. In addition, there is no solid evidence to support the warning that swimming after a meal can result in drowning. So, is it fact or is it just a myth?
Can you swim immediately after eating?
Gerald Endress, exercise physiologist and director of diet & fitness center at Duke University, says swimming on a full stomach does not significantly affect swimming ability. Basically, blood does flow to your stomach to aid digestion, but it doesn't cause your muscles to lose energy and capacity to the point of drowning.
Roshini Rajapaksa, gastroentrologist from New York University School of Medicine notes that a full stomach after eating can cause cramps if you swim too excitedly, but drowning that causes death due to a full stomach after eating is less than one percent. So, the chances of you drowning due to a full stomach after eating are very small.
There is no evidence to suggest that exercising after eating is harmful. However, too vigorous exercise can direct blood flow away from the digestive area to the skin and muscles of the arms and legs. So, if your food is still half digested but you've been doing vigorous exercise, you may feel nauseous.
Basically, engaging in any strenuous activity after eating can cause cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Swimming after eating must be accompanied by warming up.
Warm up at a low intensity to avoid stomach cramps. Swimming is an activity that is perfectly acceptable after a meal, provided it is carried out at a reasonable intensity. Don't maneuver too much to avoid shocking your stomach.
Take a short break after you eat if your stomach feels too stuffed or full. Wait a few moments until you feel your stomach getting better and ready to be taken to swim. In general, children and adults alike can swim immediately after eating a snack.
Whatever it is, parental orders not to swim immediately after eating certainly serve a good purpose. Telling you to rest and avoid the pain that may occur in the stomach might be the cause. So telling children that they might drown if they swim immediately after eating is one way parents get children to listen to it, even though this is not supported by scientific evidence.
Swimming after consuming alcohol is more dangerous
The thing you have to worry about is swimming after consuming alcohol instead of swimming after eating. Limit the amount of alcohol you consume if you plan to swim. Usually, two drinks of alcoholic beverages are quite dangerous for most adults who consume them even though you may not feel any changes yourself.
Two separate studies found that as much as 25 percent of the deaths of teenagers who drowned in Washington in 1989 were related to alcohol consumption, while 41 percent of adults in California who drowned in 1990 were drunk.
