Parental fears limit children's exercise
04 May 2004

Parents' attitudes to exercise are contributing to low activity levels among some children with asthma, according to research from the US.

One of the key goals of asthma management is that the condition should not limit people's physical activities. However, the new study, at John Hopkins University, Baltimore, found that children with asthma were less active than their peers by around half an hour a day on average. More than 20% of the children with asthma were not reaching the goal of normal physical activity.

The researchers interviewed parents of children with and without asthma to find out about the typical activity levels of their children in a day and across the week. The parents' views on exercise and physical activity were also investigated. A pattern emerged when parents' beliefs about asthma and exercise were taken into account, according to Dr David Lang, who led the study.

'Children with asthma whose parents feared that the child would get sick from exercise and those whose parents believed that the child got upset from strenuous play were more likely to be inactive,' he said. These fears were not uncommon among those parents who were interviewed, with one in five believing that exercise was dangerous for their child and a quarter afraid that their child would get sick if they exercised.

Experts at Asthma UK reiterated the importance of physical activity for children with asthma. Patrick Ladbury, its Children & Young People's development manager, said: 'Asthma shouldn't prevent all but those with the most severe asthma symptoms from participating in exercise and sports. Exercise-induced asthma is a sign of poorly controlled asthma. If a child is having frequent symptoms go and see your doctor or nurse to review your treatment.'

The study was published in Pediatrics.