ACSM Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CEP) Practice Exam 2025 – Your Comprehensive All-in-One Prep Guide for Success!

The physiological response to acute exercise that tends to be lower in children compared to adults is cardiac output. Cardiac output is the amount of blood the heart pumps in one minute and is a critical determinant of how effectively the body can deliver oxygen and nutrients to working muscles during exercise.

In children, absolute cardiac output is generally lower than in adults due to smaller heart size and lower stroke volume. While children can increase their heart rate during exercise, the overall volume of blood pumped by the heart is not sufficient to match that of adults during similar levels of physical activity. Consequently, even though children are often physically active, their smaller size and underdeveloped cardiovascular systems contribute to this lower cardiac output during acute exercise.

Other physiological responses, like blood pressure, tidal volume, and minute ventilation, may show different patterns in children and adults. For instance, while tidal volume and minute ventilation tend to proportionally increase with exercise intensity, they do not demonstrate the same significant disparity between children and adults as cardiac output does. Blood pressure also shows variances based on developmental factors and individual health status rather than a simple comparison of absolute values across different ages during acute exercise.