Introduction:The negative impact of obesity on physical fitness and motor abilities has been documented in youth of various ages; however, this issue has not been explored in youth with mild intellectual disabilities (ID). Youth with ID are considered more overweight, less physically fit, and less motor proficient than peers without ID, so it is important to determine if these variables are associated in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI), physical fitness, and motor skills in a large sample of youth with mild ID. Method: A systematic, stratified sampling method was used to select 444 youth with mild ID, aged 6-18 years, from eight special education schools in Hong Kong. Physical fitness was assessed using items from the national Hong Kong assessment: 6-(ages 6-8 years) or 9-(ages 9-18 years) minute run, sit-up, isometric push-up, sit and reach, and sum of skinfold. Functional motor skills were assessed in 244 youth from the fitness sample using the Test of Gross Motor Development-II. Subjects were categorized into normal or overweight/obese BMI groups based on international cutoff points.Results: Approximately 20% of the sample was classified as overweight/obese (average BMI normal ¼ 17.4772.69; overweight/ obese ¼ 24.7874.05). ANCOVA controlling for age and gender revealed group differences in the run (P ¼ 0.001) and push-ups (P ¼ 0.05), but not in the motor or other fitness variables. After controlling for age and gender, BMI was correlated with the run (r ¼ À0.27, P o 0.001) and push ups (r ¼ À0.18, P ¼ 0.008). Age and gender were entered as the first block in hierarchical regression and accounted for most of the variance in all dependent variables, except sit and reach. The inclusion of BMI in the second block added to the model for run and push-ups only (DR 2 run ¼ 0.04, push-ups ¼ 0.03, Po0.001). Conclusion: Overweight/obesity is minimally associated with aerobic fitness and muscular strength in youth with mild ID. BMI did not impact other fitness measures (sit-up, sit and reach) or motor skills in the sample. The undesirable level of overweight/ obesity in this sample requires increased attention and immediate intervention.

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Physical activity (PA) during physical education is important for health purposes and for developing physical fitness and movement skills. To examine PA levels and how PA was influenced by environmental and instructor-related characteristics, we assessed children’s activity during 368 lessons taught by 105 physical education specialists in 42 randomly selected schools in Hong Kong. Trained observers used SOFIT in randomly selected classes, grades 4–6, during three climatic seasons. Results indicated children’s PA levels met the U.S. Healthy People 2010 objective of 50% engagement time and were higher than comparable U.S. populations. Multiple regression analyses revealed that temperature, teacher behavior, and two lesson characteristics (subject matter and mode of delivery) were significantly associated with the PA levels. Most of these factors are modifiable, and changes could improve the quantity and intensity of children’s PA.

This is the first study to examine MVPA and ST among different disability types at school using accelerometry. Given the low levels of PA, this population should receive priority in the development of cost-effective interventions to improve their PA opportunities.

Physical activity engagement during physical education is important for many reasons, including developing physical fitness and movement skills and promoting health. Much more is known about physical activity in elementary than secondary schools. We examined physical activity and how it was influenced by instructor-related and environmental characteristics during 238 lessons taught by 65 physical education specialists in 30 randomly selected secondary schools in Hong Kong. Trained observers used SOFIT (System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time) in randomly selected grade 7–12 classes over a 6-month period. Results showed students engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) about 35% of lesson time, a level similar to that found in U.S. elementary schools and short of the U.S. Healthy People 2010 objective of 50% engagement time. Multiple regression analyses found that six potentially modifiable variables contributed to 35% of the variability in lesson MVPA percent.