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Physical activity and obesity in children with congenital cardiac disease

Trenda D Ray1, Angela Green, Karen Henry

  • 1Ambulatory Care Services, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, USA. raytd@archildrens.org

Cardiology in the Young
|July 8, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Children with congenital heart disease have low physical activity and high obesity rates. Physical activity levels did not correlate with body mass index in this study group.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Exercise Science
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Children with congenital cardiac disease face barriers to physical activity, including reduced exercise capacity and parental concerns.
  • Establishing healthy physical activity patterns is crucial for this population.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe physical activity habits in children aged 10-14 with congenital cardiac disease.
  • To examine the relationship between physical activity and obesity, defined by body mass index (BMI).

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study involving 84 children (51 males, 33 females) aged 10-14 with congenital cardiac disease.
  • Utilized self-report measures and clinical data to assess physical activity and BMI.
  • Compared physical activity levels between overweight/obese and non-overweight/obese children.

Main Results:

  • Reported low physical activity rates compared to healthy peers.
  • High prevalence of overweight (9.5%) and obesity (26%) based on BMI percentiles.
  • No significant correlation found between physical activity levels and BMI (r = -0.11, p = 0.45).

Conclusions:

  • Children with congenital cardiac disease exhibit low physical activity and elevated obesity rates.
  • Physical activity and obesity were not significantly correlated in this cohort.
  • Further research is needed to identify obesity drivers and test interventions for this population.
Abstract

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