The levels of physical activity and motor skills in young children with and without autism spectrum disorder, aged 2-5 years.
Autistic preschoolers move more than peers, yet their motor delays don’t explain activity level.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ketcheson et al. (2018) watched 2- to 5-year-olds with and without autism for a week. They used small motion sensors to count sitting time and active time. They also gave each child a quick motor test to see who had delays.
What they found
Kids with autism sat less than their typical peers. Surprisingly, the children who scored lowest on motor skills were not the ones who sat the most. In plain words, poor motor skills did not explain who was up and moving.
How this fits with other research
Pan (2014) and Healy et al. (2017) saw the opposite pattern in older kids. They found teens with autism moved less and weighed more. Together the studies show the gap flips: young autistic kids move more, but by adolescence they move less.
Lloyd et al. (2013) already showed toddler motor delays grow fast. Leah’s team now adds that these delays do not predict how much a preschooler runs or climbs.
Bao et al. (2017) looked like they disagreed. They saw autistic kids sit more when peers are near. The clash fades when you notice they watched free-play camp time, while Leah captured whole-day movement. Setting and measurement matter.
Why it matters
Do not assume a clumsy preschooler will be inactive. Build on their higher movement by giving lots of safe places to run, jump, and climb. Start motor skill teaching early, but pair it with fun movement games instead of expecting the skills to drive activity later.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism spectrum disorder is the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States. As such, there is an unprecedented need for research examining factors contributing to the health disparities in this population. This research suggests a relationship between the levels of physical activity and health outcomes. In fact, excessive sedentary behavior during early childhood is associated with a number of negative health outcomes. A total of 53 children participated in this study, including typically developing children (mean age = 42.5 ± 10.78 months, n = 19) and children with autism spectrum disorder (mean age = 47.42 ± 12.81 months, n = 34). The t-test results reveal that children with autism spectrum disorder spent significantly less time per day in sedentary behavior when compared to the typically developing group ( t(52) = 4.57, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the results from the general linear model reveal that there is no relationship between motor skills and the levels of physical activity. The ongoing need for objective measurement of physical activity in young children with autism spectrum disorder is of critical importance as it may shed light on an often overlooked need for early community-based interventions to increase physical activity early on in development.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2018 · doi:10.1177/1362361316683889