Creating Equal Opportunities for Children and Youth with Disabilities to Participate in Physical Education and Extracurricular Activities

GUIDELINES FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008) recommend that children and youth have 60 minutes of physical activity of moderate and vigorous intensity daily in three types of activity—aerobic activities, muscle-strengthening activities, and bone-strengthening activities. The Guidelines include a brief mention of children and youth with disabilities (p. 19):

"Children and adolescents with disabilities are more likely to be inactive than those without disabilities. Youth with disabilities should work with their healthcare provider to understand the types and amounts of physical activity appropriate for them. When possible, children and adolescents with disabilities should meet the Guidelines. When young people are not able to participate in appropriate physical activities to meet the Guidelines, they should be as active as possible and avoid being inactive." 

In order to reduce the risk of injury, children and youth are advised to increase their physical activity gradually and to engage in a variety of exercise, sport, and recreation activities. ²  Increased physical activity increases motor skills, which in turn facilitate increased physical activity (Foley, 2010).

The trend of childhood obesity and inactivity is increasing the focus on physical activity among children (e.g. The First Lady's Let’s Move! campaign--information available at http://www.letsmove.gov/). Not only are inactivity and obesity even more prevalent among children with disabilities (Rimmer, 2008), inactivity and obesity can be more problematic for children and youth with disabilities because they can lead to and exacerbate secondary conditions associated with certain disabilities (Rimmer, Wang, Yamaki, & Davis, 2010).