{"id":110932,"date":"2026-07-23T16:22:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=110932"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:22:27","slug":"children-no-more-vulnerable-to-heat-injury-than-adults-when-exercising-says-brock-researcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/07\/children-no-more-vulnerable-to-heat-injury-than-adults-when-exercising-says-brock-researcher\/","title":{"rendered":"Children no more vulnerable to heat injury than adults when exercising, says Brock researcher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seeing children run around the playground or sports field on a scorching day may cause anxiety for parents worried about the dangers of heat-related illnesses. But a new Brock University research review could help put those fears to rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many, many years, the common belief was that children are a vulnerable population \u2014 which they are \u2014 and are therefore more vulnerable to heat injury if they exercise in the heat,\u201d says Professor of Kinesiology Bareket Falk. \u201cBut there is no epidemiological data to show that, physiologically, this is the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their journal article<\/a>, Falk and her team of Brock researchers reviewed 22 studies on children\u2019s thermoregulation, or the ways bodies maintain a consistent core temperature of 37 C.<\/p>\n

Systems regulating body temperature include an area of the brain called the hypothalamus, sweat glands, blood circulation and skin. If a person overheats, they may develop heat exhaustion and potentially fatal heatstroke<\/a>, among other forms of hyperthermia.<\/p>\n

The studies compared rates of sweating and skin blood flow \u2014 the volume of blood circulating to the skin \u2014 in children and adults.<\/p>\n

Sweating regulates temperature by releasing moisture, which draws heat away from the body when the sweat evaporates.<\/p>\n

\"Bareket<\/a>

Professor of Kinesiology Bareket Falk.<\/p><\/div>\n

In hot conditions, blood vessels can also expand, increasing blood flow to the surface of the skin and releasing more heat from the body.<\/p>\n

The research reviewed by the team shows children sweat less than adults. Since sweating is a key thermoregulation strategy, Falk says it was long assumed children would be more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.<\/p>\n

But skin blood flow rate \u2014 the other key thermoregulation strategy \u2014 is higher in children.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a physiological perspective, there was no difference in the effectiveness of thermoregulation in children and adults,\u201d says Falk. \u201cThe strategy was different: sweating rate was lower in children, but skin blood flow was higher, so children are not at a disadvantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there is still room for caution, Falk says.<\/p>\n

While there are no physiological differences in how children\u2019s and adults\u2019 bodies thermoregulate, there may be behavioural differences in the way children and adults respond to heat.<\/p>\n

Adult athletes running a marathon, for instance, know they must hydrate at drinking stations even if they\u2019re not thirsty, Falk says. \u201cBut child athletes might not have the knowledge of hydration and the experience of dizziness and headaches that come with dehydration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falk says the bottom line to avoid heat illnesses is to use \u201ccommon sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it’s not safe for the parents to exercise outside, it’s not safe for the children to do so either,\u201d she says. \u201cMake sure everyone stays hydrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s review findings are described in \u201cDespite differences in heat dissipation, children\u2019s temperature regulation during heat stress is similar to adults\u2019 \u2013 a systematic review<\/a>,\u201d published February 2026 in the journal Temperature<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In addition to Falk, the team includes Professors of Kinesiology Panagiota Klentrou and Diane Mack and former graduate students Hina Ticknor (MSc \u201925) and Stacey <\/em>Woods (MSc \u201918, PhD \u201923).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeing children run around the playground or sports field on a scorching day may cause anxiety for parents worried about the dangers of heat-related illnesses. But a new Brock University research review could help put those fears to rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":110935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,1,5],"tags":[3712,996,7148,7488,12884,10582],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110932"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110938,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110932\/revisions\/110938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}