Some concern parents ask me “Isn’t it dangerous for my son to play under the hot son?” This question comes up when I mention that Gor Gor has his soccer CCA from 2.30pm to 4pm once a week, which is right under the hot afternoon son.
Daddy’s professional opinion as a doctor felt that is it is ok to play under the hot sun, provided you have taken the following precautions :
1. Water breaks : the coach must provide regular water breaks for the children. During these water breaks, the children should be supervised to drink water. If they do not have water in their water bottle, they must run to the nearby water cooler to drink water.
Children are more prone to dehydration than adults as their fluid storage capacity are lower than adults due to their smaller size. Thus they can dehydrate fairly quickly through sweating under the hot son.
2. Apply sun screen : exposure to sunlight is good for the child as Vitamin D is obtained from sunlight. However, long-term overexposure of sunlight may cause skin cancer in small number of people, especially the Caucasian population. Remember to apply sun screen to your child before the games.
With these precautions, it is safe for your child to play under the hot son, as long as its not too often (like everyday) and not too long duration of time.
