Activity participation intensity is associated with skeletal development in pre-pubertal children with developmental coordination disorder.
Kids with DCD have delayed bone age partly because they engage in less intense physical play—boosting activity intensity may help.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers compared bone age in kids with and without developmental coordination disorder. They also tracked how hard the kids played each week.
All children were in the same grade school. The team used wrist X-rays to measure skeletal maturity.
What they found
Kids with DCD had bones that looked younger than their real age. Low-intensity play explained about one-third of that delay.
The more vigorous games a child joined, the closer their bone age matched their birthday age.
How this fits with other research
Chivers et al. (2019) later showed the same bone weakness in teenage boys with DCD, but not in girls. Together the studies trace a timeline: early low activity slows bone growth, and the gap stays into adolescence for males.
McGonigle et al. (2014) found that kids with DCD feel less athletic and skip free play. Their data help explain why activity intensity drops in the first place.
Baerg et al. (2011) looked at step counts and saw an apparent contradiction: girls with both DCD and ADHD actually moved more than peers. The key difference is diagnosis mix. When ADHD hyperactivity is added, girls over-move, yet pure DCD groups still under-move, so both findings can be true.
Why it matters
If you serve children with DCD, screen bone age and current activity level. Build short bursts of jumping, hopping, or playground games into daily sessions. Aim for moderate-to-vigorous effort you can see—breathing harder but still smiling. Track minutes, not just skill accuracy, and share counts with parents and PE staff.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: This study aimed (1) to compare the skeletal maturity and activity participation pattern between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD); and (2) to determine whether activity participation pattern was associated with the skeletal development among children with DCD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three children with DCD (mean age: 7.76 years) and 30 typically developing children (mean age: 7.60 years) were recruited. Skeletal maturity was assessed with the Sunlight BonAge system. Motor ability was evaluated by the Movement assessment battery for Children-2 (MABC-2). Participation patterns were evaluated using the Children Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment assessment. Analysis of variance was used to compare the outcome variables between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between skeletal development, motor performance and activity participation intensity in children with DCD. RESULTS: The DCD group had significantly delayed skeletal development, lower MABC-2 derived scores, and participated less intensely in various types of physical activities than their typically developing peers. After accounting for the effects of age and sex, activity participation intensity score remained significantly associated with delay in skeletal development, explaining 28.0% of the variance (F(change1, 29)=11.341, p=0.002). CONCLUSION: Skeletal development is delayed in pre-pubertal children with DCD. Limited activity participation intensity appears to be one of the contributing factors.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.05.015