A children's swim instructor from Tennessee has recently issued a warning about wearing blue bathing suits while in the pool.
Taking to TikTok, Nikki Scarnati, a certified infant swimming instructor, posted a video sharing the dangers of letting young children wear swimwear that matches the color of the water they're swimming in.
In order to help people understand the concept better, Scarnati shared clips of her young daughter, who was wearing a blue swimsuit that day solely for the purpose of the video.
You can clearly see the child bobbing in and out of the water, but only because her hair was visible, but when she went deeper into the blue, you could hardly make out where she was due to the camouflaging effect of her swimsuit.
Have a look below:"This is why you do not put your children in blue bathing suits. Look at how difficult it is to see her under the water," Scarnati explained. "And this is in calm water. This is not with a whole bunch of other kids playing and splashing around and having a good time.
"So, do not buy blue bathing suits, guys," she advised, suggesting that parents should opt to "buy bright ones" instead, to make sure their children are clearly visible if they were to get into difficulty in the water.
Since it was posted, the video has been watched almost five million times, with hundreds of social media users gathering in the comments to thank Scarnati for the warning, especially with summer quickly approaching.
"That's crazy I would have never even thought about it wow," wrote one user while another added: "I'm a former lifeguard and this is absolutely right! Any shade of blue is difficult to see, and so is any pastel light color in general."
A third commented writing: "I'm not a mom but I save these videos for when I am."
This mom pointed said: "My kids will forever wear neon everything so I can clearly spot them no matter where they are."
Another user also agreed that they wouldn't have thought of this without being told by Scarnati.
As per a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury deaths for children ages zero to 17 and the leading for those between ages one and four.
The research concluded that in recent years, "the highest percentage of unintentional drowning deaths occurred in bathtubs for ages under one year, in swimming pools for ages one to four and five to 13, and in natural bodies of water for ages 14–17.
Be careful out there guys!
