PT Health Life – Summer is the time for children to have fun, exercise, and practice sports. However, what should you keep in mind to keep children safe and avoid heat shock when playing sports?
1. Children are susceptible to heat stroke when playing sports in hot weather
that children are susceptible to heat stroke when playing sports for too long in hot weather. The reason is that children have not fully developed the sweating function, so they regulate body temperature by increasing blood flow to the skin and releasing heat from the body surface to the surrounding environment. In hot summer weather, children’s body temperature increases more than adults’, making them susceptible to heat stroke.
Heat stroke is a condition in which body temperature increases excessively (about 40 – 41 degrees Celsius) and occurs suddenly. The main cause is due to working outdoors in the hot sun for long periods of time, the body’s inability to dissipate endogenous heat. Heat stroke can cause many complications and even death if not treated promptly.
2. Signs of heat stroke in children
When suffering from heat stroke, children may experience symptoms including:
– Cramps: Exercising and playing sports outdoors in the hot sun causes the child’s body to lose minerals and water due to excessive sweating. This can cause severe cramps in the limbs and abdomen.
– Fainting: Exercising and playing sports under strong sunlight can make the body tired and easily faint.
– Exhaustion: Pale skin, headache, nausea, chills, weakness, unsteadiness, dizziness, rapid pulse, excessive thirst and muscle cramps.
– Stroke : Signs include slurred or incoherent speech, disorientation, rapid/irregular pulse, seizures, unconsciousness, even coma . When heat stroke begins, the body’s heat control mechanisms begin to weaken and can lead to organ failure.
3. How to treat heat stroke in children?
– Cool the body: Take the child to a cool, well-ventilated place, remove sweaty clothes and apply a cool compress to the child.
– Drink water: Give your child water to drink, every 15 minutes until the child feels better.
In case the child shows more serious signs, immediately notify the emergency service 115 or take the child to the nearest medical facility for timely treatment.
4. Prevent heat stroke in children when playing outdoor sports
To prevent children from getting heat stroke when playing outdoor sports, you should note:
– Drink enough water: Teach children to drink enough water, drink when thirsty and rehydrate between sports sessions.
– Balanced diet: Children’s bodies lose minerals when exercising strenuously in hot weather. Therefore, feed your child a healthy, balanced diet to better cope with hot weather.
– Avoid exercising during the hottest hours: You should practice in the morning or late afternoon/evening. The time from 11 am to 3 pm is usually the hottest time. You should take a 10-minute break between workouts. On the hottest days, outdoor activities should be canceled.
If you have to practice outdoors in the heat, you need to let your child get used to the high heat a few days before.
– Avoid exercising continuously for more than 1 hour in the sun. You should stop exercising immediately if your child is uncomfortable and take him or her to a shaded place to rest.
– Avoid wearing dark clothes: Dark clothes retain heat, increasing body temperature when exercising outdoors. Therefore, children should wear white or light-colored clothes that are airy and sweat-absorbent.
– Proper rest: You should take a break after every 15 minutes of practice. This gives the child’s body time to dissipate heat and absorb water.
Note, some medications can make children more sensitive to temperature. Therefore, parents should discuss with the doctor about the medications their children are taking to avoid the dangers that heat can cause to their children.
In addition, it is necessary to closely monitor children who are overweight, have an unbalanced physique, and rarely sweat… when exercising in hot weather.
