Exercise testing of the child with obesity

As the prevalence of childhood obesity increases, exercise testing of obese children is likely to increase as well. This article discusses the implica tions of pediatric obesity for exercise testing and provides some recommend ations for conducting tests and evaluating results. Studies comparing obese and nonobese children during exercise testing indicate that obese children are capable of meeting the challenges of exercise testing to nearly the sa me extent as their nonobese peers. Their physiologic responses, at least fo r the levels of obesity reported in the literature, are not sufficiently di fferent from their nonobese counterparts to necessitate major changes in te st protocols. Laboratory staff should gay special attention to fostering co nfidence in the obese child during the pretest routine.