Physical activity and physical condition of Icelandic primary and secondary school children with intellectual disability

Introduction: Little is known about physical activity, body composition and metabolic risk factors among children with intellectual disability (ID). The purpose of this study was to investigate their physical condition. Material and methods: Children with ID (n=91) and a randomly selected age-and-gender matched group of 93 typically developed individuals (TDI) participated and the groups were compared on physical activity, fitness, body composition, blood pressure, blood lipids, and glycemic control. Results: Children with ID were shorter (-8.6 cm, p<0.001), had greater skinfolds (p<0.001), diastolic blood pressure (22.7 mm, p=0,006), and body fat percentage (4.0 percentage points, p=0.008) than TDI children. Boys with ID had larger waist circumference than TDI boys (6.3 cm, p=0.009) but no difference was found among the girls. Higher proportion (41%) of children with ID than TDI children (19%) were categorized as obese (p=0.006) based on body fat percentage. No children with ID reached the recommended daily 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous physical activity compared to 40% of the TDI children. Only 25% of children with ID achieved the recommended levels for fitness, whereas the same proportion was 75% among TDI children. Over 20% of the children with ID had elevated waist circumference, 34% elevated blood pressure, 13-21% elevated metabolic risk factors in the blood, and 7% were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. These prevalences were lower among the TDI children. Conclusion: Physical condition of children with ID is poor and inferior to their TDI peers. Further studies are needed to investigate the reasons underlying the poor physical health among children with ID and how it can most effectively be enhanced.