Why July Is the Most Dangerous Month To Go Swimming

Lakes, rivers and oceans are linked to disease outbreaks.

Just in time for swimming season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new report on disease outbreaks associated with swimming in rivers, lakes and oceans.

Between 2000 and 2014, public health officials in 35 states, plus Guam, reported a total of 140 disease outbreaks associated with swimming in untreated recreational waters — mainly at beaches and bodies of water in public parks, the report says. These outbreaks led to 4,958 illnesses and two deaths.

The vast majority of outbreaks with a confirmed cause were linked to gastrointestinal pathogens such as norovirus, Shigella and E. coli. People typically get sick from these illnesses when they accidentally ingest water contaminated by fecal matter. Such contamination can happen through wastewater and sewage runoff, flooding or someone defecating while swimming, the report says.

Most of the remaining outbreaks were caused by parasites transmitted by birds present in recreational waters, toxins and chemicals or harmful algal blooms, the report says. The two deaths were caused by Naegleria fowleri, a rare type of freshwater ameba that enters the nose and destroys brain tissue.

The majority of outbreaks struck between June and August, and nearly 60% happened in July.

Swimmers may be at a lower risk of infection if they stick to “well-operated, treated recreational water venues,” the report says — although a prior report from the agency also detailed plenty of disease outbreaks that could be traced back to hotel pools, hot tubs and other treated recreational waters.

Those who choose to swim in untreated waters should use caution in those that are shallow, poorly circulating, over-crowded, far from toilets and other hygiene facilities or frequented by young children with “no or limited toileting skills,” the report says. Swimmers should also steer clear of water that’s “discolored, smelly, foamy or scummy” and avoid swimming after high rains or floods, according to the CDC.

To reduce disease transmission, the CDC says people should avoid entering public waters if they’re sick and do their best to avoid swallowing water while swimming. Organizations that maintain swimming areas should also try to minimize flooding and runoff contamination, keep wildlife away from swimming areas as much as possible and regularly monitor aquatic bacteria levels, the CDC says.

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This Woman’s Bold Message About Thigh Gap Wins Summer

Just in time for shorts and bikini season.

As a teen, Mary Jelkovsky was obsessed with having “thigh gap”—upper thighs so thin, they didn’t touch and instead had space between them.

These days, the 20-year-old wellness influencer knows that thigh gap is unrealistic. But after she recently saw a thigh gap workout on social media, she was so outraged, she came up with her own cheeky way of showing others that having thigh gap is unhealthy, and prizing it promotes unrealistic body standards.

On Tuesday, she posted what she called her “two-step method” to getting thigh gap. Posing in a white tee and underwear, she wrote: “1. Separate thighs” and “2. Screw it. Love yoself.” She provided more context in the caption.

When she was a personal trainer, “women from all walks of life would constantly use phrases like ‘problem area’ and ‘my biggest insecurity’ to describe their legs or midsection (or both),” she wrote. “It was very sad to hear that a mother of 4 was too ashamed of her body to have sex with her husband or that a college girl didn’t want to go to a pool party until she lost 10 pounds.”

RELATED: If Thigh Gap and Hip Dip Weren’t Enough, Now Women Are Supposed to Worry About Having ‘Armpit Vaginas’

Jelkovsky tells Health she was motivated to share message of self-acceptance because she’s frustrated that so many women still try to achieve thigh gap. This “problem area” continues to cause problems for women today.

“I remembered being in high school when the thigh gap trend was very alive and I spent hours on the internet looking at how to do it,” she says. “The other day I was on Pinterest and I saw an ‘inner thigh workout for a thigh gap’ and I was so shocked that this was still a thing! I don’t want my little sister to grow up in a world where air between your legs has any significance.”

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Only 23% of Americans Get Enough Exercise, a CDC Report Says

Rates varied widely by state and gender.

Less than a quarter of Americans are meeting all national physical activity guidelines, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Federal physical activity guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, in addition to muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week. But according to the new NCHS report, which drew on five years of data from the National Health Interview Survey, only about 23% of adults ages 18 to 64 are hitting both of those marks. Another 32% met one but not both, and almost 45% did not hit either benchmark.

Those numbers fluctuated somewhat depending on gender, occupation and home state. More men (roughly 27%) than women (almost 19%) met both guidelines, and both genders saw slightly higher percentages among working adults (almost 29% and 21%, respectively).

The authors also added that people working in managerial or “professional” positions were more likely than individuals in production roles, such as assembly and manufacturing, to meet the standards. However, the report looked only at leisure-time physical activity, so adults who log exercise through active jobs or commutes were not included in the findings.

Some states saw adherence rates well above the national average, while others were well below. Colorado led the pack, with 32.5% of adults meeting both federal exercise guidelines. In Mississippi, just 13.5% of adults reported meeting both exercise guidelines.

With some exceptions, states on the West Coast and in the Northeast tended to have higher percentages of residents meeting the guidelines than states in the South. Residents of states in the Southeast had particularly low rates. High levels of unemployment and disability or poor health in a state were correlated with lower rates of meeting exercise guidelines, the researchers found.

In all, the results suggest that most Americans should try to squeeze more exercise into their time off, given its well-established connections to everything from chronic disease prevention to mental and cognitive health benefits.

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