Influence of sex and biological maturation on the sudomotor response to exercise-heat stress: are girls disadvantaged?

Abstract

Both adult females and children have been reported to have a lower sweating capacity and thus reduced evaporative heat loss potential which may increase their susceptibility to exertional hyperthermia in the heat. Compared to 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 evaporative efficiency. The reported reductions in sudomotor activity of females and children suggests a lower sweating capacity in girls. However, due to the complexities of isolating sex and maturation from the confounding effects of morphological differences (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 mini review highlights the exercise-induced sudomotor response of females and children, summarises previous research investigating the sudomotor response to exercise in girls and suggests important areas for further research.

A Review of Elite Athlete Evidence-Based Knowledge and Preparation for Competing in the Heat

“…Considerable research efforts are required to gauge the adoption of HA across the sports landscape and determine whether athletes are preparing(ed) to compete in the heat. Including and not limited to youth and master's athletes whose thermoregulatory systems may be compromised compared to the elite adult athletes [65,104]. International federations [e.g., World Athletics, International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC)] and national governing bodies remain central advocates and educators to ensure that HA is universally adopted amongst elite athletes.…”

Biological Sex Does Not Influence Core Temperature Change and Sweating of Children Exercising in a Warm Environment

“…Nevertheless, there is a substantial gap in the pediatric literature regarding the relative difference in the thermoregulatory sweating response to exercise between sexes, along with the potential mechanisms mediating any difference. Moreover, previous studies that have compared the sweating response to exercise between boys and girls (5,21,22) may be limited in their interpretation because of an exercise protocol that elicits differences in H ˙prod between participants (23).…”