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Exercise as Medicine for Children with Chronic Conditions
Exercise is an important therapeutic tool for children with chronic diseases or disability.
At UCI PERC and across the world, dedicated pediatricians and researchers look for ways to use exercise as medicine to improve treatment and outcomes in children with chronic diseases. In this section of the PERC blog, we will share general and specific insights and resources related to exercise for children with chronic diseases or disability and their caregivers.
In general, children with a chronic diseases or disability are less active than their healthy peers and also have a lower exercise tolerance and capacity or a real or perceived limitation that may discourage them from physical activity or sports participation.
A recent paper from The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto suggested that “(although) exercise intolerance is prevalent in pediatric chronic disease, physical activity is important and safe for most children with a chronic disease”.
However, there is a lack of specific guidelines for 'safe' physical activity participation. Therefore, as suggested by the team at Toronto Sick Kids Hospital, “it is important that the exercise prescription involves the entire health care team when creating an individualized program.”
If you are a parent, physician, physical educator, or coach who cares for a young person with a chronic disease or disability stay tuned here for more information on this topic.
Learn more » Pediatric Exercise and Genomics Research Center (PERC)
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @ucipeds and use the hashtag #KidsExercise #PERC
Tele-Exercise: a Promising Tool to Promote Fitness in Children with Clinical Conditions
You get sick. You go to the doctor.
However, for some people it’s not that simple. And, modern day advancements in technologies like telecommunication now make it possible to have a doctor’s appointment from home. This is called telemedicine – or the remote delivery of healthcare services such as health assessments or consultations over the telecommunications infrastructure.
At PERC, Dr. Jen Jen Chen, pediatric pulmonologist and PERC researcher used this same approach to promote exercise in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Think ‘Exercise on Demand’, online workouts, The Netflix of Fitness. We call it ‘tele-exercise’.
Tele-exercise program is an innovative and promising new approach for CF patients since in this clinical condition there is a concern about cross-infection risk when exposed to other CF patients. The social benefits of exercising with a group are well known, so, why not bring supervised group exercise to CF patients?
In this first-of-its-kind pilot study, 10 CF patients participated in an interactive tele-exercise program with real-time wearable device monitoring. The 6-week program consisted of 30-minute sessions that allowed live streaming interaction, so it was like the instructors and participants were in the same room.
The results? Both attendance and participation were great and children enjoyed it! On average participants attended 85% of the sessions which included about 20-25 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The participants rated the program high (91 out of 100), and enjoyed having the opportunity and motivation to be led by an instructor while exercising in a group of other children with the same clinical condition.
The participants loved the program and stated:
“Love chatting with everyone.”
“Talking to people because it made the sessions more fun.”
“Seeing friends and the instructor.”
“I love working out with everyone even though I'm exhausted, I have fun, it makes me not hate working out.”
“I like socializing with everyone.”
“It is exercise that I would not have otherwise gotten.”
And, it improved health and quality of life!
“Less coughing and less lung issues that negatively impact my daily life…and I have more and better quality sleep.”
Learn more » Pediatric Exercise and Genomics Research Center (PERC)
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @ucipeds and use the hashtag #KidsExercise #PERC