Tochihara Y, Ohnaka T, Nagai Y
Department of Clothing Sciences, Jissen Women's University.
Appl Human Sci. 1995 Jan;14(1):23-8. doi: 10.2114/ahs.14.23.
Twenty-three children (12 boys and 11 girls) and 13 female students served as the subjects in summer. The children were from six to eight years old. The subjects were seated in a hot room of 30 degrees C and their legs were immersed in bath water of 42 degrees C for 30 minutes. Total sweat rate, local sweat rate on the back, rectal temperature, skin temperatures at eight sites, heart rate and blood pressure were measured during the experiments. Total sweat rate of both groups was similar, but local sweat rates of the children were significantly smaller than those of the students. Although the degree of increase in rectal temperature from immersion in the hot bath were similar, the increases of heart rate and skin temperatures on the thigh and forearm were greater in children. These results suggest that the thermoregulatory ability of children during heat exposure is similar to that of young female adults. However, it is found that for heat loss, children resort more to vasodilation than sweating during heat exposure as compared to adults. The children were divided into two groups according to whether the children were exposed to air cooling systems in summer in their infancy or not. There was no significant inter-group differences in physiological responses during immersion in the hot water bath. It is found that the ability of Japanese children to tolerate heat was not reduced distinctly by the frequent use of an air cooling system in infancy.
23名儿童（12名男孩和11名女孩）和13名女学生在夏季作为研究对象。儿童年龄在6至8岁。研究对象坐在30摄氏度的热房间里，双腿浸入42摄氏度的浴水中30分钟。在实验过程中测量了总出汗率、背部局部出汗率、直肠温度、八个部位的皮肤温度、心率和血压。两组的总出汗率相似，但儿童的局部出汗率明显低于学生。尽管热水浴后直肠温度升高程度相似，但儿童的心率以及大腿和前臂皮肤温度的升高幅度更大。这些结果表明，儿童在热暴露期间的体温调节能力与年轻女性成年人相似。然而，研究发现，与成年人相比，儿童在热暴露期间散热更多地依靠血管舒张而非出汗。根据儿童在婴儿期夏季是否接触空气冷却系统，将儿童分为两组。在热水浴浸泡期间，两组间的生理反应没有显著差异。研究发现，日本儿童耐受热量的能力不会因婴儿期频繁使用空气冷却系统而明显降低。
