Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-REGULATORY INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 323, Issue 2, Pages R161-R168Publisher
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00328.2021
Keywords
children; evaporative efficiency; females; sweating; thermoregulation
Categories
Funding
- National Health and Medical Research Council [APP1162371]
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Both adult females and children have a lower sweating capacity, potentially making them more susceptible to hyperthermia. The reduced sudomotor activity in females and children suggests a lower sweating capacity, but evidence on whether they are at a thermoregulatory disadvantage is limited.
Both adult females and children have been reported to have a lower sweating capacity and thus reduced evaporative heat loss potential that may increase their susceptibility to exertional hyperthermia in the heat. Compared with males, females have a lower maximal sweat rate and thus a theoretically lower maximum skin wettedness due to a lower sweat output per gland. Similarly, children have been suggested to be disadvantaged in high ambient temperatures due to a lower sweat production and therefore reduced evaporative capacity, despite modifications of heat transfer due to physical attributes and possible evapo-rative efficiency. The reported reductions in the sudomotor activity of females and children suggest a lower sweating capacity in girls. However, because of the complexities of isolating sex and maturation from the confounding effects of morphological differ-ences (e.g., body surface area-to-mass ratio) and metabolic heat production, limited evidence exists supporting whether children, and, more specifically, girls are at a thermoregulatory disadvantage. Furthermore, a limited number of child-adult comparison studies involve females and very few studies have directly compared regional and whole body sudomotor activity between boys and girls. This minireview highlights the exercise-induced sudomotor response of females and children, summarizes previous research investigating the sudomotor response to exercise in girls, and suggests important areas for further research.
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