Physical Activities to Avoid

If your child has severe symptoms or is experiencing a "flare up", these are activities that should be limited:

Contact Sports

Your child should only engage in contact and collision sports if it has been approved by their doctor. Contact sports, such as football, wrestling, and hockey can increase the risk of injury to joints that are already sore and inflamed. [1] If your child does participate in these activities, they should be done at a lower intensity (for example: consider touch football instead of tackle football).

Endurance Sports

Often children with JIA have reduced energy due to lack of sleep from joint pain/stiffness, medication side-effects, and increased effort used throughout the day in doing routine activities. [1] Endurance sports like cross country and soccer are not the best options for children with JIA, unless they participate in them for shorter intervals of time.

Physical Activities Done in the Cold

Winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, and skating should be avoided or minimized because prolonged periods of time in the cold can worsen arthritic symptoms by causing joint pain and increasing the risk of injury. [2]

Opt for other activities during the winter such as indoor rollerblading, instead of ice skating.

Physical Activities that Improve JIA Symptoms

References

1. John Philpott, Kristin Houghton, and Anthony Luke, “Physical Activity Recommendations for children with Specific Chronic Health Conditions: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Hemophilia, Asthma, and Cystic Fibrosis,” Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine 20, no. 3, (2010): 167-172.

2. I. Strusberg, R. Mendelberg, H. Serra, and A. Strusberg, "Influence of Weather Conditions on Rheumatic Pain," The Journal of Rheumatology 29, no. 2 (2002): 335-343.