This study tested 46 children with visual impairments (26 girls and 20 boys) on the Fitnessgram health-related fitness test. It found that fewer than 20% of the children with visual impairments passed at least four items on the Fitnessgram, compared to 48%-70% of the sighted children.Regular physical activity has benefits for both physical and psychological health, including the reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and stress-related illnesses (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996). Contrary to the popular belief that children are "naturally" active, American children do not engage in levels of activity that are sufficient to maintain adequate fitness (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996). In fact, the percentages of children and adolescents who are overweight are at an all-time high (Nicklas, Webber, Johnson, Srinivasan, & Berenson, 1995;Sallis & Patrick, 1994). Children with visual impairments (both those who are blind and those with low vision) have consistently exhibited lower levels of fitness than have their sighted peers (Blessing, McCrimmon,
This qualitative study of rocking in four children who are blind, aged 10-13, used in-depth interviews, observations, psychomotor assessments, and reviews of school and other records. The findings revealed similarities in the children's early medical histories, delays in motor development, constraints on vigorous movement, and limited peer relationships.
Of 52 children who attended a sports camp for children with visual impairments, 15 demonstrated stereotypic rocking currently or in the past. Three factors were associated with rocking: etiology of visual impairment, visual status, and early medical history. Children who were the most likely to exhibit rocking were those with retinopathy of prematurity who underwent lengthy hospital stays and multiple surgeries early in their lives and who were totally blind from birth.
The purpose of this scoping review was to identify studies where young children’s engagement in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings was measured and to investigate conceptualizations and operationalizations of child engagement. The literature search conducted in March 2021 included ERIC, PsychInfo, Scopus and Web of Science databases and it resulted in 5965 articles, of which 286 were included in this review. Eligibility criteria were measurements of child engagement in any formal ECEC setting before starting first grade. Data was extracted about engagement conceptualization, theoretical frameworks, study population, study design, and engagement measurement tools and methods. The results showed variations both in the definitions and in the measurement of child engagement. The most common method of measuring children’s engagement in ECEC was observations by an external observer, followed by teacher surveys. Measures of general child engagement in ECEC have a focus on behavioral aspects of engagement while measures that focus on academic activities are more likely to include additional cognitive and emotional aspects of engagement. Child self-reports were rarely used and only present in measures of academic engagement of young children. About one-third of the identified studies relied on unestablished measures of child engagement. Seventy-seven unique established measures of child engagement were identified.
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