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Estevan Padilla
Pamela Reed
Composition 1
12 September 2015
Importance of Hydration for High School Athletes
Millions of high school students compete in some type of school sanctioned athletic
program each year. During 2010 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, addressed
this topic in their August 2010 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The CDC analyzed data
that they obtained from the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study that
contained data of injuries received or sustained during the 2005 2009 school years.
The National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study only contained data
from the 100 schools that were sampled for this study. This sampled population actually
represents less than one percent, as during this time period there were over 24,000 secondary
schools within the United States. The report surmised that most heat related injuries sustained
were related to football and that they normally occurred during the month of August. The data
collected in this report contained no heat-related deaths.
For the football injuries sustained during this time were for heat exhaustion and directly
related to the athlete not being properly hydrated and/or properly maintaining that hydration
during practice sessions or during actual competitions. It was found that they more often
occurred in areas where the humidity was higher and normally the student athlete could be

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clinically classified as obese. The body of a student athlete with a high BMI is not able to cool
itself down as efficiently due to excess body fat.
The question then becomes, what can student athletes, parents and school officials do
better to prevent these type of injuries. What steps, such as monitoring, preventative measures
can be put into place to insure the safety of our young athletes. This will involve a community
effort, as no one person can accomplish this task by themselves.
Within the State of Arkansas, the Arkansas Activities Association has joined forces with
the Arkansas Department of Health in a joint effort to help prevent exertional heat illness, which
is primarily caused by improper hydration. Each year the Arkansas Activities Association sends
out a letter to Arkansas school districts with packets containing materials to assist each district
with educating their staff, student athletes and parents of the dangers of not having the student
athlete properly hydrated. During this time the staff and the school district will have a mandatory
meeting for all athletes about the importance of proper hydration.
There are signs that we need to look for when our student athletes return to school,
practice and competition that may indicate a heat illness. Heat cramps are probably the earliest
indication that an athlete is suffering from a heat related illness. This normally occurs after
excessive exposure to heat and the person begins to sweat profusely, then add inadequate
hydration to this equation and the muscles begin to spasm. Heat cramps may occur alone or at
the same time as heat exhaustion.
A person doesnt have to show any earlier warning signs before actually suffering from
heat exhaustion, which is a:

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condition in which core body temperature is between 37C (98.6F) and 40C (104F),
heat exhaustion often presents with malaise, fatigue, and dizziness. Heavy sweating is
classically noted as well as nausea, vomiting, headache, fainting, weakness, and cold or
clammy skin (Heat Exhaustion 1385).
Heat exhaustion can lead to a heat stroke if the signs are not identified and the condition
is left untreated. A heat stroke is characterized by the following both an elevated core
temperature of 40C or greater and central nervous system (CNS) disturbance (irritability, ataxia,
confusion, coma). In the setting of suspected heat illness with a temperature below 40C and
mental status changes, (Heat Stroke 1385) and if these symptoms are exhibited treatment should
begin, even while evaluating for possible other illnesses. Treatment for heat stroke should be
initiated while evaluating for other conditions. With this potentially fatal condition, prompt
recognition and treatment offers the best chance of survival. (Heat Stroke 1385)
There are two types of heat strokes, classic and exertional. The environment plays a
major part in classic heat strokes because it affects the persons ability to dissipate heat,
(Classic and Exertional Heat Stroke 1385) for example staying outside in extreme heat and
humidity could cause you to have a classic heat stroke. Whereas exertional heat strokes can
occur in any type of environment and all different types of weather with contributing factors
being the physical activity you are performing in addition to the human bodys natural propensity
to produce energy, thereby increasing the bodys core temperature.
Worst case scenario a student athlete suffers a heat stroke that ends in death. However,
there can be other long term ramifications that not only change the life of the student athlete, but
also affect that athletes family. We all need to focus on prevention and educate ourselves as to

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the risk factors for these student athletes. The tragedy is that the heat illness injuries and strokes
are preventable if we take the proper action.
With education, nutrition, hydration, and a community effort we can eliminate the
chances of student athletes having heat illness which could cause death or permanent physical
and neurological injuries. That being said we can take the steps that are appropriate to prevent
this problem from ever happening.

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Works Cited
"Heat Illness Among High School Athletes -- United States, 2005-2009." MMWR: Morbidity &
Mortality Weekly Report 59.32 (2010): 1009-1013. CINAHL Complete. Web. 15 Sept.
2015
"Fueling the School-Aged Athlete- Drink to Keep Hydrated." Nutrition Fact Sheet- Nfsmi.org.
NFSMI- The University of Mississippi, 2009. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
<http://nfsmi.org/documentlibraryfiles/pdf/20090925011512.pdf>.
Howe, Allyson S., MD, and Barry P. Boden, MD. "Heat-Related Illness in Athletes - Team
Physician's Corner." Uchicago.edu. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, Aug.
2007. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
<https://pedclerk.uchicago.edu/sites/pedclerk.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/heat.pdf>.