The benefits of exercise in children with allergies

Having read the new article in the British Journal of Sports medicine on the impact of physical activity and participation in organised sports aged 11 possible having a sex specific protective effect against anxiety and addiction (benefit seen in boys), and a reducing trend for depression in girls.

This led me to think about the positive benefits of physical activity on children with allergic diseases and how to experience the many positive impacts of exercise in children and navigate having allergic conditions.

The American Lung Association has a good web page on the benefits of exercise when you have asthma. Good control of asthma with your inhaled medication prescribed by your asthma team can ensure that your child/young person can reap the benefits of exercise. If your child is involved at high levels in sport, recognising which medications are acceptable or not for competitions is important., and we can assist you and your family in ensuring your treatment plan is in line with your sporting body.

In eczema exercise can be a bit more difficult to navigate in severe eczema, but is possible and necessary. Sweat, heat, and irritant clothing can cause flares of eczema in some children. Thinking about natural fabrics, or wicking fabrics, as well as good use of topical creams to ensure that your child’s skin is as calm as possible before exercising is a good start. Using a non-steroid cream such a pimecrolimus or tacrolimus twice a week to maintain skin and prevent flares can be an excellent way of keeping skin calm. There are some nice tips at the national eczema society. The  importance of pre moisturising and rinsing off well post swimming are so important and can be helpful to ensure your children can swim as comfortably as possible.

In general, children with food allergies should freely exercise. Children and their families might just want to think about reaction thresholds: if you are sleep deprived, having undertaking vigorous exercise or taking ibuprofen you lower your threshold for a reaction. This means that less of your allergen would cause a reaction.

There is also a rare type of allergy called Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis (EIA) where exercise actually brings on an allergic reaction. This is unrelated to food and exercise must stop immediately symptoms start. A rarer sibling of this is Food Dependent Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis (FD-EIA) where a specific food, often wheat, in combination with exercise cause reactions!

Here at Children's Allergy South West we believe that all children should be able to maximise their potential and experience the benefits of exercise and organised sport and we aim to help all families achieve this with sensible precautions.