|  Give
Athletes Plenty of Fluids
Dehydration can lead to
serious heat illness
Odds are you wouldn't let your daughter play
catcher in a baseball game without a facemask.
You wouldn't send your son onto a football field
without a helmet, either. But here's a sports
precaution you may overlook: getting kids to
drink water and other healthy fluids.
During hot weather, young athletes face the
risk of dehydration, which can lead to serious
heat-related illness. The cause: failure to
drink enough.
"Drinking is like any other piece of protective
equipment used in sports," says Oded Bar-Or,
M.D., who has been studying heat illness in
children for more than 20 years. Children face
a higher risk of dehydration because:
| • |
Their bodies
aren't as efficient as adults' at cooling
themselves by sweating. |
| • |
Their muscles generate
much more heat than adults'. |
| • |
Their bodies have a
greater surface-area to body-mass ratio
than adults. The smaller the children,
the faster they absorb the sun's heat. |
Dr. Bar-Or, professor of pediatrics at McMaster
University in Ontario, suggests serving children
sports drinks in a flavor they like. Research
has shown that children will drink almost twice
as much if they're given sports drinks, he says.
Many nutritionists say that water is best and
that children should avoid caffeinated beverages
such as sodas.
To keep children hydrated, have them drink
12 ounces of fluid 30 minutes before they take
the field. Then, for every 20 minutes of activity,
they should drink 5 ounces if they weigh 90
pounds or less and 9 ounces if they weigh more.
During the first hour after activity, children
should drink every 20 minutes.
Dr. Bar-Or says you should be especially wary
during the first two weeks of warm weather.
The body must adapt to the heat and tends to
sweat more. That makes it crucial for children
to take it easy at first and gulp down healthy
fluids (one gulp equals about half an ounce).
Signs of dehydration
| • |
Decrease
in reaction time |
| • |
Decrease in physical
performance |
| • |
Apathy |
| • |
Dry lips and mouth |
| • |
Disorientation |
| • |
Thirst |
| • |
Nausea |
| • |
Irritability |
| • |
Headache |
Children with any of these signs should be
taken to the shade and given water or sports
drinks. Inability to drink or pale skin indicates
a serious condition that should be treated as
a medical emergency.
Copyright 2003 Health
Ink and Vitality Communications, 780 Township
Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067, 1-800-524-1176
Publication: Starting Out Healthy
Publication Date: Summer
2003
Author: Laura Lane
Source: Oded Bar-Or, M.D.
Online Editor: Dianna Sinovic
Online Medical Reviewer: Cynthia Godsey, M.S.N.,
F.N.P./C., Gordon Lambert, M.D.
Date Last Modified: 7/15/03
|
