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Thermoregulation and dehydration in children and youth exercising in extreme heat compared with adults

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dc.contributor.authorSmallcombe, J.W.
dc.contributor.authorTopham, T.H.
dc.contributor.authorBrown, H.A.
dc.contributor.authorTiong, M.
dc.contributor.authorClark, B.
dc.contributor.authorBroderick, C.
dc.contributor.authorChalmers, S.
dc.contributor.authorOrchard, J.
dc.contributor.authorMavros, Y.
dc.contributor.authorPeriard, J.D.
dc.contributor.authorJay, O.
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractObjective: To compare hyperthermia and physiological dehydration risk during exercise heat stress between children of different ages and adults and evaluate an existing adult sweat rate calculator in children. Methods: 68 fit and recreationally active children aged 10–16 years (31 girls), and 24 adults aged 18–40 years (11 females) completed three separate 45 min treadmill walking/running trials at different intensities on different days at 30°C, 40% relative humidity (RH) (WARM) or 40°C, 30% RH (HOT). Exposures were randomised to elicit intensities scaled to (1) fitness, (2) mass and (3) surface area. Core (gastrointestinal (Tgi)) temperature was measured continuously and dehydration determined using body mass changes. Results: Except for 60% V̇O2peak in WARM, in which adults exhibited a greater Tgi rise compared with 10–13 years, there was no effect of age on Tgi during exercise (p≥0.176). Physiological rates of dehydration were not affected by age in WARM (p≥0.08) or HOT (p≥0.08). Mean predicted sweat rate error was +0.08 kg/hour (95% CIs: −0.10, +0.25) across WARM and HOT, and 80.5% of variability in sweating was explained by the adult sweat rate calculator. Conclusions: 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.
dc.identifier.citationBritish Journal of Sports Medicine, 2025; 59(16):1151-1159
dc.identifier.doi10.1136/bjsports-2025-109832
dc.identifier.issn0306-3674
dc.identifier.issn1473-0480
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11541.2/43688
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherBMJ Group
dc.relation.fundingNHMRC 1141127
dc.rightsCopyright 2025 © Authors or their employers (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) Access Condition Notes: This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-109832
dc.subjectsweat
dc.subjectchildren
dc.subjectdehydration
dc.subjectexercise
dc.titleThermoregulation and dehydration in children and youth exercising in extreme heat compared with adults
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished
ror.fileinfo12306433090001831 13306433080001831 9917045145401831
ror.mmsid9917045145401831

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