Hydration Status, Sweat Rates, and Rehydration Education of Youth Football Campers

Context: Previous field research has not identified sweat rates (SR), fluid consumption (FC), or the efficacy of an educational intervention (EI) for youth during football camp. Objective: To measure hydration status and rehydration performance and examine El using these data. Design: Observational with El randomized comparison. Participants: Thirty-three boys (mean +/- SD: 12 +/- 2 y, 52.9 +/- 13.6 kg, 156 +/- 12 cm) volunteered during a 5-d camp with 3 (similar to 2-h) sessions per day (WBGT: 25.6 +/- 0.5 degrees C). Main Outcome Measures: Hydration status, SR, and FC. Results: Urine osmolality averaged 796 +/- 293 mOsm/L for days 2-5. Game SR (1.30 +/- 0.57 L/h) was significantly greater than practice SR (0.65 +/- 0.35 L/h; P = .002). Subjects dehydrated during free time but matched fluid losses with FC (0.76 +/- 0.29 L/h) during football activities. Conclusions: Subjects arrived at camp hypohydrated and maintained this condition. They matched FC and SR during, but dehydrated when not playing, football. This may impair recovery and subsequent performance. Hydration El seemed to have a positive influence on hydration practices.