Quantifying physical activity, physical education and active travel in children and adolescents with visual Impairments

Abstract

BackgroundMeeting the physical activity (PA) guidelines for children, as set out by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has a range of physical and mental health benefits. For children who are blind or vision impaired (BVI), additional benefits include social inclusion and reduced falls risk. While previous research has demonstrated low PA levels across most demographics, little research has been done in the Irish context to quantify PA in children who are BVI. Two potential methods of increasing PA levels, active travel (AT) and physical education (PE), have additionally never been assessed in this group. MethodsConsenting parents of children who are BVI (n = 53, 55 % boys, mean age of children 12.92 ± 2.76 years) completed a questionnaire regarding PA levels, and participation in AT and PE. ResultsPA levels were low, with 9.6 % achieving WHO guidelines (60 min MVPA/day). There was no statistically significant differences between genders completing either no PA in the last week (p = 1.00) or MVPA on each of the last 7 days (p = 0.157). 14.4 % used AT to get to school. Mean PE times in minutes/week were lower than the general population (58.63 min), with a low proportion of respondents meeting PE guidelines (32.1 %). Regarding barriers to PA, 17.0 % of respondents stated they were very likely to be “too tired after school to be active”. 13.5 % stated they were very likely to feel “my day is so busy now I just do not think I can make time to include PA in my regular schedule”. ConclusionThis study provides a valuable insight into the low levels of PA that prevail amongst BVI children. Increasing PA levels would provide individual benefits (including physical and mental health benefits) as well as population benefits (including reduced health expenditure). Future qualitative research should seek to gain a deeper understanding of the PA barriers, motivators and facilitators in this cohort.