Cardiovascular fitness and haemodynamic responses to maximal cycle ergometer exercise test in children 6–8 years of age

Abstract

We investigated cardiovascular fitness and haemodynamic responses to maximal cycle ergometer exercise test in children. The participants were a population sample of 425 children (204 girls, 221 boys) aged 6–8 years. Heart rate (HR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were measured from the beginning of pre-exercise rest to the end of recovery period. We provided reference values for peak workload and changes in HR and SBP during and after maximal exercise test in girls and boys. Girls had a lower cardiovascular fitness, indicated by peak workload per body weight [mean (2 s) 2.7 (0.9) vs. 3.1 (1.0) W · kg^–1, P < 0.001] and lean mass [mean (2 s) 3.5 (0.9) vs. 3.8 (1.0) W· kg^–1, P < 0.001] than boys. Plateau or decline in SBP close to the end of the test was found in about third of children and was considered a normal SBP response. Girls had a slower HR decrease within 2 min after the test than boys [mean (2 s) 53 (18) vs. 59 (22) beats · min^–1, P < 0.001]. The results are useful for physicians and exercise physiologists to evaluate cardiovascular fitness and haemodynamic responses to exercise in children and to detect children with low exercise tolerance or abnormal haemodynamic responses to exercise.

Keywords:

• exhaustion
• peak performance
• heart rate response
• systolic blood pressure response
• gender differences

Acknowledgements

We thank the voluntary children and their families who participated in this study. This work has been financially supported by grants from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, the University of Eastern Finland, Sitra – the Finnish Innovation Fund, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Juho Vainio Foundation, the Foundation for Paediatric Research, the Paulo Foundation, the Paavo Nurmi Foundation, the Diabetes Research Foundation and Kuopio University Hospital (EVO-funding number 5031343).