Physical activity during school and after school among youth with and without intellectual disability.
Children with ID get most of their physical activity at school, not after school—so build movement opportunities into the school day.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Einarsson et al. (2016) strapped accelerometers on kids with and without intellectual disability. They tracked every move for four days to see when each group was active.
The study ran in Iceland. Children went to school, then went home, while the devices counted steps and sedentary minutes.
What they found
Kids with ID moved less and sat more than their typical peers. Most of their activity happened during school hours, not after the bell.
When asked why they moved, children with ID said “to lose weight” more often than other kids.
How this fits with other research
Van Hanegem et al. (2014) saw the same gap in Northern Ireland one year earlier. Their sample also showed higher obesity and less moderate-to-high activity in pupils with ID.
In-Lee et al. (2012) looked at 14 exercise studies and found a medium benefit for people with ID. Their math says four 31-60 minute sessions per week work best.
Collins et al. (2017) went one step further. They ran a 10-week program and proved fitness can improve when kids with ID actually move.
Together the papers draw a clear line: children with ID are inactive, but structured programs can fix it.
Why it matters
If you serve students with ID, pack movement into the school day. Add short exercise breaks, active transitions, or jog-and-praise routines like Sarber et al. (1983). After-school time is already quiet for these kids, so don’t count on evening sports to close the gap. Build the habit where you control the schedule.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Little is known about physical activity (PA) among children with intellectual disability (ID) or their reasons to take part in PA and sport. AIMS: To investigate PA and PA patterns during school and after school among Icelandic children with mild-to-severe ID. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Ninety-one children with ID and a matched group of 93 typically developed individuals (TDI) took part. PA was assessed with accelerometers and a questionnaire was used to collect data on PA behavior. RESULTS AND OUTCOMES: TDI children were more active and less sedentary than children with ID (p<0.001). Both sexes with ID were more active and less sedentary during school than after school (p<0.003) but no difference was found among TDI children. Children with ID (60%) were more likely to name weight loss as a reason to participate in PA than TDI children (34%, p=0.002) but a higher proportion (96%) of TDI children than children with ID (50%) participated in PA to improve skills (p<0.001). CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Children with ID depend more on schools to accumulate their PA and their reasons for PA participation differ from TDI children. This needs to be considered when designing and implementing PA promotion campaigns for children with ID.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.05.016