What Does a Paediatric Exercise Physiologist Do?

Exercise physiologists use exercise to build children's strength, coordination and confidence. Here is what they do, who they help, and what a first session looks like.

If you are looking for a paediatric exercise physiologist in Perth, you may well be wondering whether it is a bit like physio. It is a fair question that we hear a lot, and the short answer is that the two professions share a lot of common ground, since both care about how people move, while an exercise physiologist uses exercise itself as the main tool.

Accredited Exercise Physiologists are university-trained allied health professionals, accredited through Exercise and Sports Science Australia. When they work with children and teens, they use play-based and purposeful exercise to build strength, coordination, fitness and confidence, and they adapt every activity to the young person in front of them. Our team includes Exercise Scientists as well as Accredited Exercise Physiologists, and everyone is there because they love helping young people find movement they enjoy.

Our Kids + Teens program is for children and young people aged 5 to 16. We work with young people who have movement delays, neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD, sensory difficulties, mental health concerns, or musculoskeletal and complex conditions, and we also see plenty of kids who simply haven't found their way into sport yet. If that last group sounds like your child, you might enjoy reading Your child does not have to be sporty. Whatever brings your child to us, we start from the idea that every child can find a way of moving that they enjoy.

Your first visit starts with a conversation about your child, what they enjoy and what feels tricky now. Next comes a play-based assessment, which lets your child show us how they move while it feels like a game rather than a test, and then we set goals together, with your child helping to choose them. Nobody is expected to perform, and we are happy to go at whatever pace feels comfortable. Parents and carers are part of that conversation from the start, because you know your child best, and we will talk about what is working at home and at school too.

Kids + Teens comes in a few formats so that families can find what suits them. Sessions can be one-on-one, in small groups of up to 4 (Fun Fitness or strength and conditioning), or in larger groups of up to 8 (Be Active or strength and conditioning). Pre and post assessments are built into sessions, and families and referrers receive regular progress reports so everyone can see how things are going. The program runs continuously all year rather than in terms, and many families pause during the school holidays. Choosing a format is a conversation, and we will talk through what is likely to suit your child, whether that is the focus of one-on-one time or the company of a small group.

The approach is backed by research, which we see as the evidence behind a community service. Our Kids + Teens approach was profiled in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Furzer et al., 2026), and the field fitness assessments we use were tested for reliability with children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (Almarjawi et al., 2023).

NDIS funding, whether your plan is managed by an agency or you self-manage, and private health rebates may apply, so it is worth checking your own plan or fund. We don't list prices here, but you will find the details on the Kids + Teens program page. If you are unsure what applies to your family, our team is happy to talk it through when you get in touch.

If your child finds movement tricky, tends to avoid sport, or you are simply curious about what we do, you are very welcome to enquire and have a chat with our team. We run sessions at Thriving HQ in Balcatta and at community venues at UWA (Crawley), Craigie and Coolbellup, and you can see our locations and the session timetable to find regular days and times.