6 Year Old Having Palpitations While Doing Physical Activity. Causes?

Posted on Thu, 5 Jan 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 Answered on

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : My 6 year old son has been complaining that his heart "is going fast" several times this past week, usually in the evening, while we are doing quiet type activities such as playing a game or reading a book. When he complains of this, I barely touch his chest and feel his heart pounding. What can be causing this??

Answered by Dr. Hema Yadav (3 hours later)

Hello ,
Thanks for posting your query.

Most of the palpitations in young healthy children could functional and related to fear, anxiety, exercise or at the most fever, stimulant caffeinated drinks, anemia or side effects of medicines.

But along with subjective feeling of tachycardia if the objective measurement of pulse and heart rate are more than 100/minute or less than 100 but with irregular beats or skipped beats, then it could be arrhythmia or a cardiac disorder.

So if possible get his heart rate or pulse checked by your doctor or any trained personnel.

If the doctor finds it necessary, he might get further work up done like ecg (electrocardiography) or 2 d echo done or blood tests to rule out anemia or hormonal problems.

As of now, if he has no other symptoms like breathlessness, fever, pain or sweating, then most
likely it could be functional if his heart rate and BP are normal.

I hope I have answered your query. Please accept my answer in case you have no follow up queries.
Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Jyoti Patil