Keep kids drinking during sports activities.

• Position: Athletics - Brief Article

A first-of-its-kind study, commissioned by the Defeat the Heat public safety campaign and presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting, found that two-thirds of children arrived at sports practice significantly dehydrated, putting them at increased risk for serious illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

According to the study's lead researcher, Douglas Casa, the director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, a majority of the kids who arrived to play dehydrated still were significantly dehydrated after practice, even though water was available and their coaches encouraged them to drink regularly.

Each year, more than 300 people die of heat-related conditions. "During the summer months, we treat many children in the emergency room for dehydration and heat illness," cautions Martin Eichelberger, Medical Director of Trauma and Burn Services at Children's National Medical Center...