Abstract
Background Health-related physical fitness is vital for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to gain healthier lives. The adapted rhythmic gymnastics (ARG) program was designed for children with IDD and is aimed at testing the effects of the exercise program on children's physical fitness. Methods Participants were recruited from two special needs schools in Beijing of China. Twenty-two children with IDD were assigned to an ARG experimental group or a traditional control group. The experimental group took part in a 16-week ARG program consisting of three 50 min sessions each week. And children's body composition, aerobic capacity, and musculoskeletal functioning were measured by the Brockport Physical Fitness Test (BPFT) before and after the program. Results The between-group analysis revealed great improvements for the experimental group in abdominal strength (curl-up test: p = 0.025 < 0.05) and upper limb strength (dumbbell press test: p = 0.038 < 0.05). Compared to the pretest, most of the physical fitness parameters improved significantly in the experimental group except BMI, and flexibility of the experimental group children showed a substantial increase. Conclusions Most of the physical fitness parameters of children with IDD in the experimental group improved significantly, especially on abdominal strength and upper limb muscle strength when comparing to the control group.
Highlights
It is recognized that children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are poorer at all kinds of physical activities than typical development children, which in turn renders them to be less active, to have poor motor abilities, and to attempt a sedentary lifestyle
The purpose of our study is to examine whether participation in an adapted rhythmic gymnastics (ARG) program could have a positive impact on levels of physical fitness among children with IDD
Results of our ARG program support the idea that properly selected exercise can improve the development of physical fitness in children with IDD
Summary
It is recognized that children with IDD are poorer at all kinds of physical activities than typical development children, which in turn renders them to be less active, to have poor motor abilities, and to attempt a sedentary lifestyle. Such conditions will lead them to many chronic diseases, such as obesity or cardiovascular disease. The adapted rhythmic gymnastics (ARG) program was designed for children with IDD and is aimed at testing the effects of the exercise program on children’s physical fitness. Most of the physical fitness parameters of children with IDD in the experimental group improved significantly, especially on abdominal strength and upper limb muscle strength when comparing to the control group
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