Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting physical activity (PA) and sedentary pursuits of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) throughout the week, during weekdays, and on weekend days. Sixty-eight children with ASD aged 6–17 years participated in this study. An ActiGraph accelerometer and activity log were used to assess PA and sedentary pursuits. The findings were (a) 6-8-year-old children with ASD demonstrating the highest level of overall PA throughout the week; (b) the weekends’ PA of the group of 6-8-year-old children with ASD was significantly higher than 9-11-year-old, 12-14-year-old, and 15-17-year-old children with ASD; (c) the single-parented children with ASD showed significantly less PA level during weekend days compared with two-parented children with ASD; (d) the children with ASD having comorbidities demonstrated significantly more time in sedentary pursuits compared to those children without comorbidities; (e) age, household structure, and comorbidities were significant predictors in the overall PA, weekend PA, and weekend sedentary pursuits, respectively. Future programs or interventions are required to promote PA participation in children with ASD, especially for older children with ASD, based on their personal (i.e., age and comorbidities) and environmental (i.e., household structure) profile and day of the week.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank all the participants who participated in this study and the research assistants.
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This research was funded by the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), grant number 106-2410-H-017-022-MY3.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Chien-Yu Pan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ming-Chih Sung and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee (ID: 106 − 026) of National Cheng Kung University. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
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Sung, MC., Tsai, CL., Chen, FC. et al. Physical Activity, Sedentary Pursuits, and their Determinants in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Dev Phys Disabil 35, 683–696 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-022-09874-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-022-09874-5