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New Paltz, NY – August is the month when a majority of schools around the country welcome student-athletes, who are preparing to train for the fall sports season. A new policy change from a national organization recognizes the dangers that young people face when they beginning practicing in oppressive heat. WAMC's Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Greg Fry reports...
The recent deaths of two Georgia high school football players has once again led to questions about students practicing in sweltering heat. This week, the American Academy of Pediatrics released updated guidelines regarding the prevention of heat illness among young athletes. The biggest change in the guidelines is a new recognition that "children can tolerate and adapt to exercise in heat as well as similarly fit adults, when adequate hydration is maintained."
Previously, the AAP's guidelines indicated that children were less able to tolerate and adapt to the heat, compared to adults. Dr. Jenny Sung at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie says children and adults deal with the heat in similar ways, specifically, through perspiration. She says physiologically, there's really no difference with adults.
School districts and associations continue to develop new policies regarding young athletes, and their participation in sports in the heat. Todd Nelson is an Assistant Director with the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. In New York, Nelson says all districts are required, once the temperature hits 80 degrees, to check weather conditions and real-feel temperatures, or the temperature that it will feel like for athletes out on playing fields. Nelson says there are recommendations, depending on that real-feel temperature, and that practices and games are postponed once that temperature goes above 96 degrees.
Recommendations from national associations call for appropriate hydration, but also the weighing of students, to determine if rapid weight loss is taking place, linked to the loss of water in the body. Nelson says the problem isn't the high temperatures - it's the fact that students are not acclimated to the heat during vigorous activities. Nelson says most student athletes aren't under the same amount of stress during the early parts of the summer.
Dr. Sung agrees that students who aren't acclimated can be in more trouble in high temperatures. She says children with chronic or recent illnesses may not have the same tolerance levels.
Many of the recommendations to keep young athletes safe in the heat haven't changed. Hydration, avoiding caffeine, and taking precautions are some of the common steps, but as Nelson tells school officials across the state, it's a team effort to keep athletes safe.