Results Overall , exercise intolerance is prevalent in pediatric chronic disease .
Background Physical activity ( PA ) is associated with a diverse range of health benefits .
International guidelines suggest that children should be participating in a minimum of 60 min of moderate to vigorous intensity PA per day to achieve these benefits .
However , current guidelines are intended for healthy children , and thus may not be applicable to children with a chronic disease .
Specifically , the dose of PA and disease specific exercise considerations are not included in these guidelines , leaving such children with few , if any , evidence -based informed suggestions pertaining to PA .
Thus , the purpose of this narrative review was to consider current literature in the area of exercise as medicine and provide practical applications for exercise in five prevalent pediatric chronic diseases : respiratory , congenital heart , metabolic , systemic inflammatory/autoimmune , and cancer .
Pilot study of fitness training and exercise testing in polyarticular childhood arthritis.
OBJECTIVE To 1 ) assess the safety and feasibility of laboratory-based exercise testing in juvenile idiopathic arthritis ( JIA ) , 2 ) test the safety and feasibility of a 3-month exercise program in JIA , 3 ) assess pain during exercise in JIA , 4 ) compare ratings of perceived effort ( RPE ) with heart rate ( HR ) achieved , and 5 ) estimate the training effect on metabolic efficiency of gait as measured by submaximal exercise testing . METHODS Nine children with JIA were enrolled in a 12-week circuit training program involving pool , stationary bicycle , treadmill , and Fitball . They underwent formal exercise testing before and after the program , underwent a full joint assessment , were administered the Childhood Health Assessment Question naire and Juvenile Arthritis Functional Status Index , and were assessed for overall quality of life and health-related quality of life . A visual analog scale was used to assess pain during testing and training , and the Borg scale was used to measure RPE . RESULTS Children with JIA were able to participate in exercise testing without any significant problems . Children with severe hip disease dropped out of the exercise program due to  pain  during the exercise sessions and worsened arthritis symptoms . Target HR was achieved and correlated with RPE in the bicycle and treadmill sessions . Submaximal exercise testing showed an improvement with a small to moderate effect size . CONCLUSION This study suggests that it is safe , feasible , and acceptable for children with arthritis , in the absence of severe hip involvement , to participate in formal exercise testing and structured fitness programs
Results Overall , exercise intolerance is prevalent in pediatric chronic disease .
Background Physical activity ( PA ) is associated with a diverse range of health benefits .
International guidelines suggest that children should be participating in a minimum of 60 min of moderate to vigorous intensity PA per day to achieve these benefits .
However , current guidelines are intended for healthy children , and thus may not be applicable to children with a chronic disease .
Specifically , the dose of PA and disease specific exercise considerations are not included in these guidelines , leaving such children with few , if any , evidence -based informed suggestions pertaining to PA .
Thus , the purpose of this narrative review was to consider current literature in the area of exercise as medicine and provide practical applications for exercise in five prevalent pediatric chronic diseases : respiratory , congenital heart , metabolic , systemic inflammatory/autoimmune , and cancer .