The role of exercise in hot and cold water is different. In water warmer than 24 degrees Celsius, body temperature rises as it does in air. However, in colder water it accelerates cooling. This latter phenomenon occurs because in exercise heat is produced to a similar degree no matter what the outside environmental temperature. Thus, because more heat is sent to the skin due to increased peripheral blood flow, in cold water heat loss will be accelerated.
Exercise augments the cooling effect of the environment.
Children are more at risk with the very youngest cooling fastest, and boys cooling faster than girls primarily because both groups are usually thinner than the others. Return to Table of Contents for this issue .