ATLANTA — As summer gets underway and metro Atlanta experiences dangerous heat, parents and adults need to pay extra attention to how much water kids are drinking.
Overheating in children or teenagers is a real emergency, so coaches and parents are making crucial adjustments this week.
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Jake Burgdorf, the flag football coach at McEachern High School, says adding breaks for hydration is necessary in the high heat.
"It’s great to be out here for the summer and compete. We’re striving to be better every single day, but player safety, it’s definitely what’s important," he said.
Sports medicine doctor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Dr. Ashley Brouillette says if the activity is less than an hour, water is best for student athletes.
“Once you’re thirsty, you are already dehydrated. So I tell people to, if you are thirsty, to hydrate till you’re not thirsty, and then have another eight ounces,” she said.
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But if it’s longer, she says you should consider adding one sports drink.
“We don’t want to overdo the Gatorade because you end up with other issues like, you know, blood sugar problems, things like that. But when we’re really kind of sweating out all of our salts and our fluids in our body, we really want to make sure we are replenishing those,” Brouillette explained.
And she says some of the effects of dehydration can actually show up later in your children.
“Kids can actually have delayed, kind of, muscle breakdown from intense exercises, which can be worse in heat. I mean, that will show up as a lot of muscle cramping and soreness sometimes the same day, but often a day or two later,” she said.
She says that some medications that a lot of children and teens take, like ADHD drugs, stimulants and antihistamines, can make heat effects worse.
Some of the biggest warning signs for children overheating include disorientation and confusion.
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