Interventions to promote physical activity for youth with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Objective. To describe interventions designed to promote physical activity for youth with intellectual disabilities. Materials and methods. A systematic review of nine databases until January 31, 2015 identified 213 citations. The inclusion criteria were: a) the study sample consisted of youth with intellectual disabilities, b) the study implemented an intervention to initiate, increase, or maintain physical activity, and c) quantitative or qualitative data were used to report the effectiveness of the intervention. Eleven articles from the 213 citations met this criterion. Results. Nine studies reported significant increases in physical activity behavior. Conclusions.Conclusions cannot be made regarding intervention components that impacted outcome variables, if the observed effects were specifically due to the intervention or if interventions could be maintained long-term. To advance the knowledge base in this area, a concerted effort should be made to increase rigor in study conceptualization and research design. ResumenObjetivo. Describir las intervenciones diseñadas para promover la actividad física para jóvenes con discapacidad intelectual. Material y métodos. Una revisión sistemá-tica de nueve bases de datos hasta el 31 de enero de 2015 identificó 213 citas. Los criterios de inclusión fueron: a) la muestra del estudio consistió en jóvenes con discapacidad intelectual, b) el estudio implementado fue una intervención para iniciar, aumentar o mantener la actividad física y datos c) cuantitativos o cualitativos se utilizaron para informar la efectividad de la intervención. Once artículos de 213 citas cumplen este criterio. Resultados. Nueve estudios informaron aumentos significativos en el comportamiento de la actividad física. Conclusión. No se pueden establecer conclusiones con respecto a los componentes de intervención variables de resultado, considerando si los efectos observados fueron específicamente debido a la intervención o intervenciones podrían mantenerse a largo plazo. Para avanzar en la base de conocimientos en esta área, se necesita un esfuerzo concertado para aumentar el rigor en el estudio unívoco.Palabras clave: actividad física; discapacidad intelectual; jóvenes; niños; adolescentes; intervención here is substantial evidence to support that regular participation in physical activity promotes physical and mental health benefits in children. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children aged 5-17 years accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderateto-vigorous intensity physical activity each day in order to improve cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, bone health, and cardiovascular and metabolic health biomarkers.1 Activities should be predominantly aerobic, but bone-and muscle-strengthening activities as well as vigorous physical activities should also be incorporated at least three times per week. Despite strong evidence to support the physiological and psychological health benefits associated with participation in physical activity, worldwide trends indicate that chi...

Class Time Physical Activity Programs for Primary School Aged Children at Specialist Schools: A Systematic Mapping Review

“…Furthermore, very few evaluations utilised an RCT design. This is consistent with previous literature reporting few RCTs of PA interventions for people with disabilities [55,113]. Many also consisted of modest sample sizes.…”

“…Given this success, it is possible that class time PA programs may have a positive impact on the development of children with disabilities attending specialist schools [35]. However, while there are published reviews of general interventions to increase PA participation for children with disabilities [54][55][56] and mainstream classroom-based PA interventions [50,51], to the author's knowledge, no review of class time PA programs implemented in specialist primary schools currently exists. It is therefore unclear whether children who attend specialist schools have opportunities to participate in class time PA programs like their typically developing counterparts.…”

Physical fitness of children and adolescents with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities

“…In clinical practice, caregivers and parents often attribute the low levels of physical fitness, activity and motor skills to the cognitive and physical disabilities of the child or adolescent, and thereby underestimate the potential these youngsters have. Previous research has shown that improving the physical fitness, activity, and motor skills in children and adolescents with ID is possible [21][22][23][24][25]. In the authors' experience, current care and support focus mainly on activities of daily living skills, like getting dressed and eating independently, while there is hardly any focus on improving physical fitness.…”

Changes in cardiovascular health and physical fitness in ethnic youth with intellectual disabilities participating in a park‐based afterschool programme for two years

“…A Finnish study compared accelerometer‐measured physical activity levels of youth with and without intellectual disability and reported those with intellectual disability were 40% less active than their peers, and none of the children with intellectual disability met the recommended guidelines for physical activity (Einarsson et al., ). Indeed, while it is well‐documented that youth with intellectual disability are less active than peers without disabilities, a recent systematic review concluded there are few published efforts to improve physical activity in this population (Frey, Temple, & Stanish, ). Moreover, the authors reported that none of the studies in this review used direct observation and the best measurement approaches combine multiple measures (objective and observation) to assess intervention impact (Frey et al., ).…”