13/01/2026
With all this heat and high humidity going on, the question is why is humidity not good for kids?
Humidity can be measured in several ways, but relative humidity is the most common. In order to understand relative humidity, it is helpful to first understand absolute humidity.
Absolute humidity is the mass of water v***r divided by the mass of dry air in a volume of air at a given temperature. The hotter the air is, the more water it can contain.
Relative humidity is the ratio of the current absolute humidity to the highest possible absolute humidity (which depends on the current air temperature). A reading of 100 percent relative humidity means that the air is totally saturated with water v***r and cannot hold any more, creatin¬g the possibility of rain. This doesn't mean that the relative humidity must be 100 percent in order for it to rain -- it must be 100 percent where the clouds are forming, but the relative humidity near the ground could be much less.
Humans are very sensitive to humidity, as the skin relies on the air to get rid of moisture. The process of sweating is your body's attempt to keep cool and maintain its current temperature. N normally, the body cools itself by opening pores on the skin and releasing water and salts. As the water ev***rates, it transfers the body’s heat to the air.
Because water has a high latent heat, which is the heat required to change liquid water to v***r, this process usually carries away enough heat to do a good job of cooling the body. If the air is at 100-percent relative humidity, sweat will not ev***rate into the air. As a result, we feel much hotter than the actual temperature when the relative humidity is high. If the relative humidity is low, we can feel much cooler than the actual temperature because our sweat ev***rates easily, cooling ¬us off. For example, if the air temperature is 24 ‘C and the relative humidity is zero percent, the air temperature feels like 21’ C to our bodies. If the air temperature is 24’C and the relative humidity is 100 percent, we feel like it's 27’ C out.
People tend to feel most comfortable at a relative humidity of about 45 percent.
Children also tolerate heat worse than adults and especially if they are very active due. Compared with adolescents and adults, children produce more heat relative to body mass during activities such as walking and running, they have a low sweating capacity, and their body core temperature rises at a higher rate during dehydration.
Studies show that a humidity of 50 percent or greater may lead to a greater incidence of asthma trouble.
Two common theories for this are: Humid air is heavier and harder to breathe and humid air harbors fungus, molds and dust mites that trigger asthma
