Recommending Physical Activity for People with Intellectual Disabilities: The Relevance of Public Health Guidelines, Physical Activity Behaviour and Type of Contact

Abstract

People with an intellectual disability (ID) often exhibit more sedentary behaviour and are less physically active than the general population. While previous public health guidelines on physical activity (PA) did not specifically address the needs of people with an ID, the recent updates now include this population, with recommendations similar to those for the general population. However, it is unclear whether the information about these guidelines has reached the broader public and what factors may influence their implementation. To investigate these issues, an online survey was conducted in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, which examined the (a) PA recommendation for people with an ID, (b) awareness of current guidelines, (c) participants’ own PA behaviour (IPAQ-SF) and (d) specific contact with people with an ID. Participants (n = 585) recommended similar levels of PA for people with an ID as for the general population, but knowledge of the guidelines did not affect their recommendation. However, participants’ own PA behaviour and context-specific contact (e.g., in family or at work) were associated with the recommended PA levels. Therefore, promoting the relevance of PA and fostering contact with people with an ID might be suitable ways to increase PA in people with an ID.

The Influence of Physical Activity Regime on Body Composition in Teenagers With and Without Intellectual Disabilities

“…Disabled people are overwhelmingly less physically active compared to their typical peers, which entail a variety of adverse physical consequences (Aksović et al, 2023;Kreinbucher-Bekerle et al, 2023). The outcomes of this idleness manifest in various secondary conditions; we mention cardiovascular disease, i.e., most prevalent cause of death among these people (Forman-Hoffman et al, 2015).…”

Using Simple Interactive Technology to Help People with Intellectual and Visual Disabilities Exercise Functional Physical Responses: A Case Series Study

“…First, increasing the physical activity of people with severe-to-profound intellectual and multiple disabilities is a valued objective of rehabilitation and care contexts that may have important health implications [5,6,12]. Pursuing this objective through the use of interactive technology may be considered profitable and convenient for at least two basic reasons.…”

“…A large number of studies have shown that people with intellectual or multiple disabilities (e.g., combinations of intellectual disability and motor or sensory impairments), tend to have low levels of physical activity compared to their typical peers [1][2][3][4][5]. A low level of physical activity is generally considered responsible for a variety of adverse effects.…”

The Influence of Physical Activity Regime on Body Composition in Teenagers With and Without Intellectual Disabilities

“…Disabled people are significantly less physically active than their typical peers, which can lead to a variety of adverse health consequences [13,31]. The outcomes of this idleness manifest in several secondary diseases, among which cardiovascular disease, i.e., the first cause of death among these persons [20].…”