Abstract
Background Recent evidence suggests that childhood obesity is increasing in children with typical development (TD) and in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The associations between physical activity (PA) levels and physical fitness components have not yet been objectively examined in this population but may have clinical implications for the development of secondary health complications.
Objective The aims of this study were: (1) to compare PA and physical fitness between secondary school-aged male students with ASD and their peers with TD and (2) to assess possible interrelationships between PA and physical fitness levels in each group.
Design This was a cross-sectional study.
Methods Physical activity was recorded every 10 seconds by using accelerometry in 70 male students with (n=35) and without (n=35) ASD for up to 5 weekdays and 2 weekend days. The Brockport Physical Fitness Test was used to assess physical fitness.
Results The primary findings were: (1) participants with ASD were less physically active overall and engaged in moderate-to-vigorous PA for a lower percentage of time compared with participants with TD during weekdays; (2) participants with ASD had significantly lower scores on all physical fitness measures, except body composition; and (3) group-dependent relationships existed between physical fitness profiles and PA levels.
Limitations The study design limits causal inference from the results.
Conclusion Specific interventions for maximizing PA and physical fitness levels in secondary school-aged male students with ASD are urgently needed.
Footnotes
Professor Pan, Professor Tsai, and Professor Chu provided concept/idea/research design. Professor Pan and Professor Chu provided writing. Professor Pan, Professor Tsai, Mr Sung, Ms Ma, and Ms Huang provided data collection and data analysis. Professor Pan and Professor Tsai provided project management. The authors express their gratitude to all of the students who participated in this study, parents of students for their support, and research assistants who helped with data collection and other contributions.
The study protocol was approved by the National Cheng Kung University Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects.
This research was supported by NSC 101-2410-H-017-027-MY2, MOST 103-2410-H-017-026-MY3, and 103-2815-C-017-002-H.
- Received August 15, 2014.
- Accepted September 13, 2015.
- © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association