Exertional heat illness among youth athletes is preventable so long as coaches, parents and other adults take common sense precautions, says the American Academy of Pediatrics in a new report.1
In a departure from its previous policy statement on the subject, the AAP no longer suggests precise rules for cancelling games or practices if the heat index reaches a certain level. With further research, the report hopes "appropriate sport- and activity-specific 'heat safety grids' and field evidence-based prevention, participation, and cancellation guidelines can be developed,"
"While coaches should make on-the-field decisions to improve safety for a team or event as a whole, individual participants may require more or less concern based on their health status and conditioning," said co-author Michael F. Bergeron, PhD, FACSM, director of the National Institute for Athletic Health & Performance at Sanford USD Medical Center, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
As an example, the policy statement describes a healthy 12-year-old who is fit and used to the heat, and who would be fine playing soccer on a 95-degree day. But an overweight football player, who recently recovered from diarrhea, and who is running wind sprints at the end of the second three-hour workout on the first warm day of preseason football, will be at higher risk, even if it's only 85 degrees.
"Athletic directors, coaches, teachers and other adults who are overseeing children exercising in the heat should make themselves aware of ways to reduce the risk of heat illness, and they should develop an emergency action plan," said Cynthia Devore, MD, FAAP, co-author of the statement and chairperson of the AAP Council on School Health. "This is especially important as we head into high school preseason football [13]."
"Most healthy children and athletes can safely participate in outdoor sports and activities in a wide range of warm to hot weather, but adults sometimes create situations that are potentially dangerous," said Stephen G. Rice, MD, FAAP, co-author of the policy statement and a former member of the executive committee of the AAP Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness.
"Heat illness is entirely preventable if coaches and other adults take some precautions to protect the young athletes."
1. Bergeron MF, Rice SG, DiLaura Devore C & Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness and Council on School Health. Policy Statement - Climactic Heat Stress and Exercising Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics 2011; 128(3) (published on line August 8, 2011).
Posted August 8, 2011 Updated April 20, 2017
Links:
[1] https://momsteam.com/node/871
[2] https://momsteam.com/node/2790
[3] https://momsteam.com/node/2791
[4] https://momsteam.com/node/2697
[5] https://momsteam.com/node/874
[6] https://momsteam.com/node/3540
[7] https://momsteam.com/node/865
[8] https://momsteam.com/node/3074
[9] https://momsteam.com/node/2446
[10] https://momsteam.com/node/864
[11] https://momsteam.com/node/282
[12] https://momsteam.com/node/800
[13] https://momsteam.com/node/1401
[14] https://momsteam.com/nutrition/sports-hydration/fluid-guidelines/kids-drink-before-during-after-sports-on-schedule
[15] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/hydration-safety/ice-water-immersion-best-treating-exertional-heat-stroke
[16] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/pre-season-heat-acclimatization-guidelines
[17] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/ten-ways-prevent-heat-illness
[18] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/heat-illness-terminology
[19] https://momsteam.com/nutrition/heat-illness-cramps-exhaustion-stroke-signs-treatment