Physical activity among children with congenital heart defects

Abstract

S.A. Pomeshkina, E.A. Demchenko V.A. Almazov National Medical Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation This article summarizes modern scientific data on the efficacy and safety of prescribing physical activity (PA) to children and adolescents with congenital heart defects (CHD), as well as practical recommendations for actual amount of PA in this category of patients, depending on their initial functional status. The preferences and benefits of PA with controlled amount, rather than its limitation in patients with CHD, have been demonstrated. An individual exercise regime can safely be indicated to each patient with CHD according to the team approach and thorough assessment. However, there remains a large gap in the literature regarding recommendations for PA in children with CHD, despite the fact that this research area is one of the priorities worldwide, since PA is a powerful tool in optimizing the health of children with CHD. There are only a limited number of publications with a small sample size, which indicates the need for further research to assess the PA contribution to the recovery of children with CHD, especially with combined defects. Keywords: congenital heart defects, physical activity, children, adolescents, aerobic exercise, sedentary lifestyle, prevention, recommendations. For citation: Pomeshkina S.A., Demchenko E.A. Physical activity among children with congenital heart defects. Russian Journal of Woman and Child Health. 2023;6(3):298–303 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.32364/2618-8430-2023-6-3-13.