Safe Summer: Exercising

EXERCISE

Tips from The American Academy of Pediatrics

• The intensity of activities that last 15 minutes or more should be reduced whenever high heat and humidity reach critical levels.
• At the beginning of a strenuous exercise program or after traveling to a warmer climate, the intensity and duration of exercise should be limited initially and then gradually increased during a period of 10 to 14 days to accomplish acclimatization to the heat.
• Before prolonged physical activity, the child should be well-hydrated. During the activity, periodic drinking should be enforced, for example, each 20 minutes, 5 oz of cold tap water or a flavored sports drink for a child weighing 90 lbs, and 9 oz for an adolescent weighing 130 lbs, even if the child does not feel thirsty.
• Clothing should be light-colored and lightweight and limited to one layer of absorbent material to facilitate evaporation of sweat. Sweat-saturated shirts should be replaced by dry clothing.
• Practices and games played in the heat should be shortened and more frequent water/hydration breaks should be instituted.