Objective To compare daily physical activity of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) with healthy peers measured using wearables bracelets in a large cohort. Additionally, subjectively estimated and objectively measured physical activity was compared. Study design From September 2017 to May 2019, 162 children (11.8 AE 3.2 years; 60 girls) with various CHD participated in a self-estimated and wearable-based physical activity assessment. Step-count and moderate-tovigorous physical activity were recorded with the Garmin vivofit jr. for 7 consecutive days and compared with a reference cohort (RC) of 96 healthy children (10.9 AE 3.8 years; 49 girls). Results Children with CHD were active and 123 (75.9%) achieved 60 minutes physical activity on a weekly average according to the World Health Organization criteria as 81 (84.3%) of the healthy peers did (P = .217). After correction for age, sex, and seasonal effects, only slightly lower step count (CHD: 10 206 AE 3178 steps vs RC: 11 142 AE 3136 steps; P = .040) but no lower moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (CHD: 80.5 AE 25.6 minutes/ day vs RC: 81.5 AE 25.3 minutes/day; P = .767) occurred comparing CHD with RC. In children with CHD higher age (P = .004), overweight or obesity (P = .016), complex severity (P = .046), and total cavopulmonary connection (P = .027) were associated with not meeting World Health Organization criteria. Subjective estimation of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was fairly correct in half of all children with CHD. Conclusions Even though the majority is sufficiently active, physical activity needs to be promoted in overweight or obese patients, patients with complex CHD severity, and in particular in those with total cavopulmonary connection.

Home-based exercise training is a promising alternative to conventional supervised training for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Even though the beneficial effect of exercise interventions is well established in patients with CHD, knowledge concerning variety and utility of existing programmes is still lacking. Therefore, the aim of this review is to give an overview about existing home-based exercise interventions in patients with CHD. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus and PEDro (2008–2018) for relevant clinical trials that provided any kind of home-based exercise with patients with CHD. All articles were identified and assessed by two independent reviewers. Seven articles with 346 paediatric CHD (18 months to 16 years) and five articles with 200 adults with CHD (21–41 years) were included. Most studies performed a supervised home-based exercise intervention with children and adolescents exercising at least three times per week with duration of 45 min for 12 weeks. Reported outcome measurements were health-related quality of life and physical activity, but mostly exercise capacity measured as peak oxygen uptake that improved in four studies (1.2%, 7%, 7.7%, 15%; p<0.05), walking distance in two (3.5%, 19.5%, p<0.05,) or walking time (2 min, p=0.003) in one. The dropout rates were high (15%), and compliance to the training programme was not reported in the majority of the studies (58%). Home-based exercise interventions are safe, feasible and a useful alternative to supervised cardiac rehabilitation for all age groups of patients with CHD. Nevertheless, training compliance represents a major challenge.

Background: Overweight and obesity have become a major public health concern in recent decades, particularly in patients with chronic health conditions like congenital heart disease (CHD). This systematic review elaborates on the prevalence and the longitudinal development of overweight and obesity in children and adults with CHD. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus from January 2010 to December 2020 on overweight and obesity prevalence in children and adults with CHD. Results: Of 30 included studies, 15 studies evaluated 5680 pediatric patients with CHD, 9 studies evaluated 6657 adults with CHD (ACHD) and 6 studies examined 9273 both pediatric patients and ACHD. Fifteen studies received the quality rating “good”, nine studies “fair”, and six studies “poor”. In children with CHD, overweight prevalence was between 9.5–31.5%, and obesity prevalence was between 9.5–26%; in ACHD, overweight prevalence was between 22–53%, and obesity was between 7–26%. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was thereby similar to the general population. Overweight and obesity have been shown to increase with age. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults with CHD is similar to the general population, demonstrating that the growing obesity pandemic is also affecting the CHD population.