Physical Activity, Fitness and Obesity in Children with Coordination Disorders

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goals of this project are to identify factors that contribute to inadequate physical activity in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and to develop interventions to promote physical activity and reduce health risk. Lack of adequate physical activity is a significant health problem in children in the United States. While considerable efforts are underway to understand and address the problem of low physical activity levels in the general population, there has been little research in children with disabilities. We propose that children with DCD are at particular risk for low activity, low levels of fitness and obesity due to the nature of their disorder. DCD is a neurologically-based developmental disorder characterized by impaired motor coordination that significantly interferes with academic achievement and activities of daily living. Because of poor coordination, children with DCD often are unable to participate in sports and physical activities with their peers. The goals of this study are to test our overarching hypothesis that children with DCD are less active, more sedentary, and thus are at greater risk for obesity and lower levels of fitness than children with adequate motor coordination. We will examine if the association of participation in physical activity and time spent in sedentary behavior with fitness and with weight status differs between children with DCD and with adequate motor coordination. We will use state-of-the-art methodology to measure activity level (accelerometry). We will determine whether children with DCD show significantly lower overall activity, spend less time in moderate-vigorous activity and more time in sedentary behavior, have significantly lower levels of physical fitness and significantly higher BMI z-scores and prevalence of risk for obesity (>85th percent), than children with average motor coordination. The relationship among measures will be examined to understand whether physical activity in children with DCD has the same effect on weight status and fitness as in children with adequate coordination. This project is responsive to Healthy People 2010 objectives which seek to increase physical activity among the nation's youth. Children with DCD represent a substantial number of children in the population who, due to their coordination disorders, are at even higher risk. The study has broader implications to other children with special needs such as those with learning disabilities and autism who also have been identified as having coordination deficits that may limit participation.