Exercise Training among Children with Cerebral Palsy to Increase Health and Wellbeing

The purpose of the Exercise Training Effects among Children with Cerebral Palsy (ExTraChild) research project is to develop, evaluate and implement optimal, personalised exercise strategies through participatory design for children with cerebral palsy (CP).The ExTraChild research project t aims to shed light on two major knowledge gaps: 1) How effective can structured exercise training be in children with CP? 2) How can we combine information on physiological, metabolic and transcriptomic biomarkers and assessments of the practical situation to design the best possible individual exercise training in children with CP?We will assess the immediate (1 day), additive (16 weeks), and long-term (1, 3 and 5-years) effects of two exercise regimes through indirect calorimetry, blood samples and skeletal micro biopsies.

Changes in cardiopulmonary and metabolic biomarkers, neural growth factors in blood, and transcriptomic biomarkers in skeletal muscles will be examined.

We will also describe facilitators and barriers for participation in the exercise regimes among children with CP, and furthermore create new knowledge about facilitators and barriers to use during implementation of structured exercise training regimes in children with CP to increase future health and wellbeing.If ExTraChild is successful, we will unravel knowledge that will facilitate implementation of prescription of targeted, personalised exercise training regimes to children with CP to enhance health and wellbeing.