G. Lassandro, V. Palmieri, Valentina Palladino
Sep 1, 2019
Citations
0
Influential Citations
6
Citations
Journal
Current Sports Medicine Reports
Abstract
Allowing children to participate in extracurricular activities, such as sports, helps them explore and develop skills which are considered beneficial throughout their lives. By participating in sports, children are exposed to various mental, social, emotional, physical, and educational benefits. The physical benefits of sports participation are obvious: it reduces the risk of obesity, improves cardiovascular performance, strengthens the osteoarticular system, and stabilizes the sleep-wake biorhythm. The psychological benefits are no less important: it develops self-esteem, facilitates social skills, and teaches the value of defeat (1). These benefits, both physical and psychological, also can intervene in the process of caring for a sick child by promoting healing and/or delaying chronic complications. Various experiences of physical exercise prescription in children with chronic diseases are known. For example, in children affected by cystic fibrosis, aerobic and anaerobic training programs can reduce the annual rate of decline in lung function. In juvenile idiopathic arthritis, resistance training can improve muscle strength and in children with an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, it can help with attention span and motor coordination (2). It is not always easy to start sick children in sport. Some pathologies are still considered in contrast with sporting activity. In particular, sport is often denied in children with diseases at risk of bleeding. We underlined, instead, the importance of physical activities in hemophilic children, and we tried to hypothesize a path that would allow children to practice sports safely (3). Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune hematological disorder characterized by a platelet count <100,000/μL. The goal in the management of children with ITP is to reduce the burden of therapies and hospitalization. Limited or very mild cutaneous hemorrhages must be treated with a “wait and see” approach. Pediatric