Heat Safety

A child's sports hydration status can be affected, positively or negatively, by beverage type, flavor, container type, accessibility, and parental and coach attitudes about hydration.

Hyponatremia is a relatively rare form of heat illness in which sodium levels in the blood become dangerously low due to excessive water consumption.  It usually occurs in endurance and ultra-endurance events lasting four hours or longer. While children do not ordinarily participate in these kinds of activities, hyponatremia is so dangerous that it something sports parents should know about.

Exertional heat stroke is a life-threatening medical emergency in which the body's temperature is too high. Left untreated, exertional heat stroke results in death due to organ damage across all body systems (liver, kidney, brain, etc.). Until medical help arrives, the key is to immediately lower elevated body temperature.

Exertional heat exhaustion is a serious heat illness which may require medical attention if no improvement in 15 to 20 minutes after removing child to shady place, drinking fluids, and taking off excessive clothing.

With fall sports beginning around the country, often in dangerously hot weather conditions, Mobile Sports, Inc. (MSI) today announced the launch of iHydrate^TM, an innovative iPhone application giving athletes, parents of athletes, and coaches the tools and information they need to avoid dehydration and other, more serious heat-related illnesses.

In 2009, the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) issued a set of high school-specific pre-season heat- acclimatization guidelines as part of its ongoing effort to reduce the number of heat-related athletic injuries in secondary schools. The guidelines have been adopted in seventeen states and are being considered by many others.

Symptoms of impending heat illness include chills, nausea, headache, disorientation, and muscle cramping.

Despite the popularity of energy drinks, especially among teens, both the National Federation of State High School Associations and American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommend against their consumption by children and adolescents because of their potential adverse health effects.