Benefits of Physical Activity in Children with Cardiac Diseases—A Concise Summary for Pediatricians

A physically active lifestyle offers multiple benefits, including lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, lowering body-mass index (BMI), and, last but not least, improving the quality of life. However, there are still disincentives to physical activity in children with heart diseases due to the high protection of parents and the scarcity of data in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to help pediatricians and pediatric cardiologists identify the type of physical activity allowed in children with congenital cardiac malformations, thus minimizing the risk of major adverse effects, such as acute coronary syndrome and sudden cardiac death. Therefore, we searched various electronic databases, such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Embase. We selected 61 articles published between 2008-2024. These articles included data on pediatric patients, from newborn to adolescent age. We decided to choose the 2008 study because of its focus on the essential role of education in schools regarding physical activity and the prevention of complications from sedentary lifestyles. Subsequently, we analyzed the data available in the literature up to 2024 regarding the type, intensity, and duration of exercise for patients with various congenital heart malformations. The conclusions of this review are presented based on the category of heart disease. There are differences in the free practice of sports in children with cardiomyopathies, atrioventricular block, arrhythmias with a genetic substrate, valvulopathies, and cyanogenic and non-cyanogenic congenital malformations. For example, children with arrhythmogenic right ventricle cardiomyopathy are not allowed to participate in sports competitions, but they can perform low physical activity for 150 min/week-golf, table tennis, and photography. However, it is recognized that a physically active lifestyle correlates with a decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, body mass index, and an improvement in the quality of life. Children with congenital heart disease who are active have improved their cardiovascular systems.