Cardiovascular Health in children with a chronic inflAMmatory condition: role of Physical activity, fItness, and inflammatiON  (CHAMPION)

Children growing up with a medical condition might be at a greater risk for heart disease than healthy children. We don’t know if this is because of their medical condition, or because of lifestyle factors, such as not getting enough exercise, or a combination of both. The goal of The CHAMPION Study is to study heart health, as well as the factors that might affect heart health, in the most common chronic diseases of childhood. This study is funded by the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.

To do this, we are going to answer the following questions:

• Is heart health in children with a chronic medical condition different than in healthy children?
• What are the best tools and measures of heart health in children with a chronic medical condition?
• How much do physical activity, fitness, and inflammation affect heart health in children?

What does this study involve?

This study involves two visits to McMaster Children’s Hospital. During the first visit, we will measure the participant’s fitness level, and then we will give them a small device called an accelerometer (roughly the size of an iPod shuffle) to measure their physical activity over the week. During the second visit, we will take a few different measures of heart health.

Who is eligible to participate?

For this study, we are looking for boys and girls between the ages of 7 to 17 years, who are either healthy (no diagnosed medical conditions), or have been diagnosed with one of the following conditions:

• Chronic kidney disease
• Cystic fibrosis
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
• Type 1 diabetes mellitus

If I am interested, who do I contact?

If you have questions or want to learn more about this study, please contact Maddy by e-mail at champion.mac1@gmail.com