Thermoregulation and dehydration in children and youth exercising in extreme heat compared with adults
Using the most comprehensive paediatric exercise heat stress dataset from a single study to date, we show that children aged 10-16 years are at a similar risk of hyperthermia and dehydration as adults during exercise up to 40°C. This supports recent changes to paediatric sport heat policies that were based on limited data. Practitioners can potentially reduce behavioural dehydration risks from inadequate fluid consumption using an existing adult sweat rate calculator for children.
Authors
- Thomas H. Topham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0780-379X)
- Samuel Chalmers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1901-6910)
- Brad Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2277-0463)
- James W. Smallcombe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0557-1537)
- Ollie Jay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6076-6337)
- Carolyn Broderick
- Harry A. Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3433-5151)
- John William Orchard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3530-1711)
- Yorgi Mavros (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2588-0425)
- Julien D. Périard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6266-4246)
- Megan J. Tiong
Institutions
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- New South Wales Department of Health (AU)
- University of South Australia (AU)
- University of Canberra (AU)
- Children's Hospital at Westmead (AU)
- ACT Government (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Published
- 2025-06-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-109832
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.48
Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council