title: Sauna habits and related symptoms in Finnish children.
abstract: Fifteen hundred randomly chosen Finnish children aged 0-15 years were studied by a questionnaire about their sauna habits and possible abnormal symptoms during or immediately after the sauna. A total of 1247 families (83%) answered. Almost all children visited the sauna (98.5%), most of them "with pleasure" (83%). Nearly half of the children were in the sauna as often as 2-3 times a week, and over 90% at least once a week. The children's sauna visits began quite early, in 70% during infancy. The time spent in a hot steam bath increased with age. Symptoms were rare and were not serious. Transient symptoms (dizziness, nausea etc.) were the most common. Of the children, 17% had some chronic or recurring disorder, most commonly atopic dermatitis or middle ear infections. In half of the cases of atopic dermatitis it became worse in the sauna. Sauna is a very common practice in Finland, also among children. It does not seem to cause any significant immediate harm to healthy children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University Central Hospital of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Markkola
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Koivikko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D004432:Ear, Middle; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011897:Random Allocation; D029002:Steam Bath; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires