Cardio-Respiratory Response to Exercise in Normal Children

Abstract

1. The results of studies during simple progressive exercise to exhaustion and steady-state submaximal exercise in 117 boys and girls aged 6–16 years are presented. 2. In the simple progressive exercise test, the highest work load achieved and the submaximal heart rate were related to size and sex. The maximum heart rate and submaximal ventilation were largely independent of size and sex. 3. Steady-state exercise was performed at one-third and two-thirds of the maximum work load achieved in the simple progressive test. The Indirect (CO2) Fick method was used to measure cardiac output. 4. At any given level of steady-state work, tidal volume, dead space, heart rate and stroke volume were closely related to size, with girls having higher heart rates and smaller stroke volumes than boys. Minute ventilation and cardiac output were virtually independent of size and sex. The cardiac output in children was the same as that in the adult for any given oxygen consumption. Blood lactate was related to size at any given work load, but was independent of size at any given fraction of the maximum working capacity.