Evaluation of the thermal insulation of clothing of infants sleeping outdoors in Northern winter.
Eur J Appl Physiol
; 111(4): 633-40, 2011 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20949360
ABSTRACT
It is a common practice in Northern countries that children aged about 2 weeks to 2 years take their daytime sleep outdoors in prams in winter. The aim was to evaluate the thermal insulation of clothing of infants sleeping outdoors in winter. Clothing data of infants aged 3.5 months was collected, and sleep duration, skin and microclimate temperatures, humidity inside middle wear, air temperature and velocity of the outdoor environment were recorded during sleep taken outdoors (n = 34) and indoors (n = 33) in families' homes. The insulation of clothing ensembles was measured by using a baby-size thermal manikin, and the values were used for defining clothing insulation of the observed infants. Required clothing insulation for each condition was estimated according to ISO 11079. Clothing insulation did not correlate with ambient air temperature. The observed and required insulation of the study group was equal at about -5 °C, but overdressing existed in warmer and deficiency in thermal insulation in colder temperatures (r (s) 0.739, p < 0.001). However, even at -5 °C a slow cooling (ca. 0.012 °C/min) of mean skin temperature (T (sk)) was observed. When the difference between observed and required insulation increased, the cooling rate of T (sk) increased linearly (r (s) 0.605, p < 0.001) and the infants slept for a shorter period (r (s) 0.524, p = 0.001). The results of this study show the difficulty of adjusting systematically the optimal thermal insulation for outdoor sleeping infants during northern winter. Therefore, the necessity for guidelines is obvious. The study provides information for adequate cold protection of infants sleeping in cold conditions.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Sono
/
Regulação da Temperatura Corporal
/
Vestuário
/
Clima Frio
/
Lactente
Tipo de estudo:
Evaluation_studies
/
Guideline
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Appl Physiol
Assunto da revista:
FISIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2011
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Finlândia