Cardiologist in Cedar Rapids notices more kids fainting

More kids are fainting during school than ever before and it may have something to do with healthier school lunches.

Dr. Mark Zittergruen, with Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, says middle school to high school students have the most likely chance of fainting.

But there is some good news, in most cases fainting is not a sign of a more serious condition. Instead it just means the kids need to make a couple changes to their diets.

There's a decent amount of sodium in many of kids' favorite snacks. But too often parents shy away from these food, and opt for they think are healthier munchies.

"Parents always look at me a little funny and some of them say, 'We actually try to eat less salt in our house.' And I say, ‘That’s good for adults but I'm not sure we should take that to the children."

Dr Zittergruen with Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids says this lack sodium is part of the reason for an increased number of fainters.

Sodium helps retain fluids. And kids that don't have enough fluids are more likely to experience dizziness or even fainting spells.

"It's basically under profusion of the brain. You're not getting enough fluid to the brain so it has no choice but to turn off for a bit,” Dr Zittergruen said.

In 2012, the USDA issued new rules for healthier school lunches, including less salt.

That coincides with when Zittergruen says he started noticing more fainting spells. And a lot of these incidents happen during class time at school.

"School lunches for instance have very low sodium so many kids we see we work how to deal with that,” Dr Zittergruen said.

So Zittergruen often tells kids to bring salty snacks, like pretzels or crackers to school. He says anything that physically shows the salt crystal is best.

Kiddos should also have a drink with them at all times, like a water bottle.

"Or fluids like Gatorade to compensate for school lunch being so low in salt,” Dr Zittergruen said.

At College Community School District, educator John Lukasko doesn't go as far to say all kids need more sports drinks like Gatorade, but he does think kids need more fluid.

"As a rule of thumb, what I try to do and tell the kids to do is every time you walk by a water fountain grab a drink. Is that going to be enough, no, but it's something,” Lukasko said.

Lukasko sees the impacts of kids being dehydrated, firsthand. Mainly after their workouts in gym class.

"I do see kids every once in a while getting dizzy, getting dizzy spells, kids get nauseous and actually have to go vomit,” Lukasko said.

Although fainting spells can happen at any time, Zittergruen agrees kids are more likely to faint after intense physical activity.

"Every sports season we see a little bit of influx, cross country is the big one for me. I can almost always tell when the first cross country meet of the year is,” Dr Zittergruen said.

He maintains the best way to prevent a fainting spell is to down liquids all day before that race. And it's not a bad idea to store something else in kids' lockers.

"We have a lot of kids bringing salty snacks to school or little salt shakers," Dr Zittergruen said.

The Trump Administration stopped even lower sodium levels in school lunches from taking effect.