Can Children With Asthma Play Sports?
Can children with asthma play sports? It is the most common unknown in those homes where little ones with this pathology live. Many of them yearn to practice some sports discipline, but their parents do not know if it is recommended or not for their condition.
No child with asthma should be deprived of playing sports that they enjoy. In these cases, contrary to what one might think, physical exercise can help improve your respiratory condition in addition to keeping you at an adequate weight, of course you must always evaluate the conditions under which sports activity takes place.
Other benefits that practicing sports will bring to the little one are: physical and mental well-being, improvements in self-esteem and self-confidence, which in turn will lead to an increase in their social integration. To take advantage of all the aforementioned, we only have to have the disease under control, always have the necessary medications on hand and visit the specialist doctor periodically.
What is asthma?
It is a chronic disease which produces excessive coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath or dyspnea. There are children who manifest this pathology at the time of practicing some physical activity or at the end of it and, in this case, it is known as exertional or sport asthma.
This type of asthma does not prevent children from practicing sports, on the contrary, it is convenient that they do so, since the benefits for both their health and their emotional stability are well known. The important thing is that the little one and his coach know when it is time to stop for a break or to finish training.
Recommended sports for children with asthma
There are a wide variety of sports and recreational activities that children with this respiratory distress can do. The appropriate one will not be more than the one that the little one considers his favorite, otherwise, he will excuse himself in his illness to abandon it. The important thing about this is that the infant feels comfortable and happy in his sports task.
Apart from diving with compressed air cylinders (which is not recommended), a child with asthma problems can practice any type of sport. Some disciplines are less asmogenic than others, so we must recognize in time the reactions that manifest themselves. If the little one tolerates the physical day adequately, it is not necessary to medicate him before practicing it. If, on the other hand, it becomes complicated, it is best to take your medication 10 minutes before starting the task.
The sports that generate the most asthmogenic symptoms are those that require sustained effort over time, such as endurance running, cycling, athletics, mountaineering, basketball, rugby, soccer, skating or ice hockey. These require expending a lot of energy without having periods to rest.
On the other hand, sports such as gymnastics, golf, swimming and water polo in a heated and covered pool, yoga, gentle cycling, walking, takking , fencing and martial arts (judo, karate, taekwondo ), are less likely to cause an asthmatic attack, since they alternate moments of effort with rest. The aforementioned makes it clear that children with asthma can play sports, lead a normal life and go religiously to school free of episodes and symptoms of the disease.
Recommendations for children with asthma to play sports
- It is important to do a gentle warm-up for a period of 15 minutes before starting sports.
- Avoid exercising at all costs when your child has an asthma attack.
- Clear the nostrils. We must ensure that the child breathes properly through the mouth and nose.
- You must practice sport in a moderate way, so the body adapts to the movements and the type of breathing that is needed.
- Avoid, whenever possible, cold or dry environments, as well as those that are contaminated or with the presence of smoke.
- Avoid intense or long-term exercises, especially when you are not in an acceptable physical condition and the limits of the sport performed are not known.
- Treat asthma with a specialist, take prescribed medications before performing physical activity if necessary, and consider preventive hygiene measures from the crisis at all times.
Children with asthma can play sports at school as long as the teacher is aware of the disease and helps the child feel comfortable. Physical activity is necessary for the growth and good health of the infant, so preventing them from practicing it is a mistake that we must avoid completely. Physical exercise contributes significantly to the recovery of respiratory capacity. Consider it part of the treatment.
