Protecting children from heat-related injuries

Posted by careen on February 17, 2009

It is very important to protect your children from heat-related injuries as the mercury rises.
HOUSTON, Texas Children’s Hospital — As the weather heats up, it’s more important for kids and adolescents to stay cool while playing outdoors.

“Seldom does a child complain about the heat, like an adult does,” said Dr. Joan Shook, chief of emergency medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. “But it’s important to know that children are more susceptible to heat stress than adults because they absorb more heat on a hot day.”

Types of heat-related injuries are:
-heat cramps
-heat exhaustion
-heat stroke

Heat cramps are the mildest of these injuries and are characterized by severe muscle pain and spasms. While heat cramps are seldom serious, they should not be taken lightly.It is an early warning sign that the body is having difficulty adjusting to the heat.

Heat exhaustion is a more serious form of heat stress. It occurs as a result of body fluids being lost through heavy sweating during exercise or other strenuous activity. Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion are extreme sweating, dry mouth, fatigue and weakness, headache, nausea and dizziness.

“Heat stroke is the most severe of the three types of heat-related injuries and is considered a medical emergency,” Shook said. “Signs that a child has experienced heat stroke include a very high temperature (104 degrees or higher); hot, dry, red skin; no sweating; confusion, deep breathing and possibly a loss of consciousness.”

Here are the following advice to avoid heat stress in children:

Dress children in light, loose-fitting clothes, such as cotton, so sweat can evaporate.
Avoid giving children drinks with caffeine and sugar. These beverages actually cause the body to loose more fluids.Drinking water everyday makes your body healthy. It wash away the bacteria that gets inside to your internal body and it so called your sweat.

Make sure children are well-hydrated before starting prolonged physical activity. Children should drink liquids periodically during activities, even if they don’t feel thirsty.