Exercise, Rehabilitation and Cardiovascular Health in Children and Young Adults with Chronic Disease

Cardiovascular health in children and young adults with chronic disease is an area of growing clinical concern. Chronic pediatric conditions such as congenital heart disease, childhood cancer, chronic kidney disease, metabolic disorders, and inflammatory diseases are increasingly recognised as contributors to impaired physical fitness, reduced physical activity, and early cardiovascular risk. Despite this, structured exercise and rehabilitation programmes specifically designed for these populations remain underdeveloped, and the long-term cardiovascular consequences of impaired fitness and physical inactivity are still not fully understood.Exercise medicine and rehabilitation interventions have demonstrated considerable potential to improve exercise capacity, cardiovascular health, quality of life, and long-term outcomes in children and young adults living with chronic disease. However, barriers related to disease burden, clinical complexity, psychosocial factors, and limited access to specialised programmes continue to restrict the implementation and uptake of exercise-based interventions in routine care. As survival and life expectancy improve across pediatric chronic diseases, there is an increasing need for evidence-based, age-appropriate, and accessible rehabilitation strategies that can be safely implemented across diverse clinical settings.This Research Topic aims to bring together original research, reviews, and expert perspectives that advance our understanding of the relationship between exercise, rehabilitation, physical activity, and cardiovascular health in children and young adults with chronic disease. It seeks to highlight innovative approaches to exercise prescription, explore the mechanisms linking chronic disease, impaired fitness, and cardiovascular risk, and identify strategies to improve implementation, accessibility, and long-term adherence to rehabilitation interventions.We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Exercise medicine and preventive cardiology in pediatric chronic disease;• Cardiovascular risk assessment and monitoring;• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and functional evaluation;• Exercise prescription and rehabilitation programme design;• Mechanisms of exercise-induced cardiovascular adaptation;• Physical activity promotion and behaviour change;• Remote, hybrid, and digital rehabilitation approaches;• Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of exercise interventions;• Psychosocial and quality-of-life aspects of rehabilitation;• Implementation science and barriers to programme delivery;• Transition from pediatric to adult rehabilitation services. Topic editors: Pascal Cedric Amedro, Dan Cooper Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81467/exercise-rehabilitation-and-cardiovascular-health-in-children-and-young-adults-with-chronic-disease