EXPERTS at hospitals in Bradford and Airedale will be involved in a pioneering pilot study aiming to ensure children affected by congenital heart disease maintain the correct levels of exercise.

The 'Helping Little Hearts' appeal, co-ordinated by the Leeds-based national charity Heart Research UK, would see every young heart patient in the UK being given a toolkit with an exercise prescription, showing exactly how much their individual condition will allow.

New research has highlighted that existing guidance given to child heart patients across the country is practically non-existent, with many families not receiving written information or specific exercise advice, despite the positive impact physical activity could have on their child’s condition.

A Yorkshire-based pilot of the toolkit has now begun in Leeds, and the programme will also include consultation with young heart patients and their families being care for by hospitals across the Bradford district.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals’ consultant paediatrician, Dr Helen Jepps, said: "We know how stressful it is for families when children are diagnosed with a heart problem.

"One of the most common queries we receive is asking how much exercise children are allowed to do.

"By giving some reassurance and general advice, we can often enable children to participate fully in school and family activities.

"This initiative involves each child being given a 'prescription' which tailors the advice to them specifically, in the same way as we would prescribe a drug uniquely for each child.

"We hope that by routinely providing this advice to our children and their families we will enable them to be healthier and happier, and lead active lifestyles."

Doctors in clinics across Yorkshire and the Humber see nearly 10,000 children, and almost 4,000 adults, a year with congenital heart problems, and in the UK, around one in every 180 babies is born with congenital heart disease.

Alongside the Yorkshire pilot, the exercise toolkit is also being trialled in Bristol, with further patient tests planned for Cardiff, Oxford, Southampton and Birmingham.

MORE BRADFORD HEALTH NEWS

If successful, Heart Research UK, which has given more than £10.6 million to research projects in hospitals and universities over the last decade, would then look to roll-out the programme across the UK at a cost of £100,000.

Barbara Harpham, national director of Heart Research UK, said while adult heart patients are generally given exercise advice when they leave hospital, children often aren't.

"These special youngsters should know that it’s good to run around, be in a team, be active, and not sit on the sidelines watching," she said.

"The unique thing about this whole new approach is the personal exercise prescription signed by a medical professional.

"It gives parents, teachers and anyone caring for children with heart problems the confidence to help them live healthier, happier, longer lives."