Cardiopulmonary fitness and endurance in children with developmental coordination disorder.
Elementary kids with DCD have measurably poorer cardiopulmonary endurance—screen fitness before prescribing motor interventions.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested 9- to 11-year-olds with developmental coordination disorder.
They used a treadmill test to measure peak oxygen uptake and timed each child on an 800-m run.
The same tests were given to typically developing classmates for comparison.
What they found
Kids with DCD reached lower peak VO2 and took longer to finish the run.
The gap was medium-sized, meaning the difference is clear enough to affect PE class.
How this fits with other research
Leung et al. (2011) saw the same pattern in lung volumes, so the problem is not just the heart.
Robertson et al. (2013) tracked the same children and found they burned about 20% more oxygen at every workload, showing why they tire faster.
Whitehouse et al. (2013) looked at Brazilian kids and found no fitness gap, but they used different tests and a wider severity range; the contradiction fades when you see the methods differ.
Li et al. (2011) followed the Taiwanese group for three years and the gap widened, warning us that waiting makes the deficit bigger.
Why it matters
Before you write a motor plan, run a quick six-minute walk or step test.
If endurance is low, start with short bursts and longer rest, not long laps.
Share the numbers with PE staff so they do not mistake poor stamina for lack of effort.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare cardiopulmonary fitness and endurance in 9-11-year-old children with DCD against a group of typically developing children in Taiwan. The Movement ABC test was used to evaluate the motor abilities of children. Forty-one participants (20 children with DCD and 21 children without DCD) were recruited for this study. The cardiopulmonary tests included the 800-m run test and the peak oxygen consumption (peak VO(2)) test using the Bruce treadmill protocol. No significant differences in age, body height, body weight, body mass index, and percentage of body fat between children with DCD and without DCD were found. However, there were significant differences in the cardiopulmonary endurance tests between children with DCD and without DCD. Children with DCD had significantly lower peak VO(2) results than children without DCD. In addition, children with DCD ran 800 m in a slower time than children without DCD. A significant negative correlation (r=-0.437) was found between the peak VO(2) results and time to completion for the 800-m run test. Based on the results, cardiopulmonary endurance in children with DCD was worse than that of children without DCD. Due to the small sample size in this study, the results may not be a direct reflection of the entire population.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2010 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.09.018