Come Sunday P. Tamil, a class 12 student, would gather his neighbourhood friends and organise a cricket tournament in the nearby ground in Korukkupet. A group of 15 to 20 children would gather, hold a meeting the day before, assign roles, split teams, and meet on Sunday. They would assemble at 5.30 a.m., play until 1 p.m. in the afternoon, disperse and go home.  

This routine has been followed since Tamil was in Class 10. Now as schools have closed for summer vacation, Tamil says that they are not stepping out due to the intense heat conditions that the city has been experiencing for the past few weeks. “Last year too we couldn’t play as much. But this time we haven’t been able to meet even one Sunday for an outdoor game. It’s much worse this time. Stepping out for even five minutes, we are tired, dehydrated and dizzy,” he adds.

As Chennai grapples under an intense heat wave with an intense heat wave, with the city recording a high of 42 degrees Celsius on Thursday, parents in the city have decided to not let their children outside for play. Further, the Regional Meteorological Centre has cautioned that the hot spell is likely to continue over the weekend.

Indira Jayakumar, lead pediatric intensivist, Apollo Hospitals, and medical director at Apollo SHINE Foundation, a not-for-profit student health initiative, explains that children are more vulnerable to heat because they have a larger surface area relative to their body mass, causing them to absorb heat more quickly. Their higher metabolism also makes them generate more heat and lose electrolytes faster, especially when combined with inadequate fluid intake.

Children are drained

Tamil’s mother notes that he is a very active child playing various sports in schools and in his neighbourhood. But this summer, they have stopped him from playing outside. “This heat is so bad that even we adults are not able to cope. The children will only have it worse. So, we stopped Tamil from going outside. Not only is this heat unbearable but it is also affecting our health, most times we don’t even feel like eating,” says P. Vijaya. Since schools closed in April, Tamil has not been out to play this month. 

Sridevi Bhaskar, grandmother to an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old from Ambedkar Nagar in Chennai says “The children themselves know that this heat is not normal and would rather not go outside to play. It’s so hot that they just want to lie down and not do anything.”

She did try to get the children to play outside at the start of the month but the next day they were so tired and had developed so many boils. “We don’t have an AC, so now they go stand outside the fridge or they dip the gunny bags in water and cover themselves in it. Sometimes they fill tubs with ice cubes and sit in them,”says Sridevi.

However, Sridevi notes that the worst part is not the lack of play but that they no longer feel hungry. “They would drink buttermilk or something cool. But they would not eat solid food. They just say they are not hungry,” she adds. 

“Children don’t anticipate a heatwave and plan their intake accordingly. They rely on their parents to give them water. In places like Chennai, where humidity is high, the body temperature rises faster even at the same temperature compared to drier regions,” she says.

Dr. Jayakumar says it is important to help children understand why hydration matters. Parents, she says, should encourage children to sip water every 30 minutes even if they do not feel thirsty, dress them in loose cotton clothing, and ensure they wear caps outdoors. Along with water, she recommends cooling drinks such as lassi, buttermilk and tender coconut water, and advises against sugary aerated beverages.

Indoor games

At the same time, she stresses that avoiding play altogether is not a solution. “Play is very important and children need to play during their holidays,” she says, adding that outdoor activity should ideally be limited to early mornings before 7.30 a.m. or after 6 p.m. 

Sridevi does encourage her grandchildren to play. As it’s still quite hot in the evening, the children now go out to play at 9 p.m. “They play games such as catch or running for an hour. But this too makes them very tired. It's like something is sucked out of them,” she adds. 

During the hotter parts of the day, children can be engaged in creative indoor activities, while parents should monitor screen time. “Kids can be taken to indoor play areas where they can play basketball for a couple of hours and come home tired, or to trusted homes where there is supervision,” Dr. Jayakumar says.

Tamil on the other hand notes that his friends now come over to play indoor games such as carrom and chess. But he notes that this has also increased the chances for a lot of his friends to tune into video games. “Even otherwise a lot of my peers are always on the phone, now that there is no way for us to go outside to play due to the heat, a lot of my friends invite us to play video games. There is a fear of addiction in this,” he adds.