Physical Activity in Children with Disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

Physical activity and play are integral to child development. The American Academy of Pediatrics published guidelines recommending that toddlers engage in three or more hours of physical activity a day and children ages three to seventeen benefit from sixty minutes of physical activity daily incorporating aerobic activity, muscle strengthening, and bone strengthening (Lobelo et al., 2020). When we narrow down the population to children with disabilities, the World Health Organization recommends guidelines for physical activity in children with disabilities that are in alignment with recommendations for children without disabilities (Carty et al., 2020). Case, Ross, and Yun (2020) report that despite these recommendations, only 19% of a sample of 3010 US students with disabilities were meeting these recommendations. Therefore, it is critical that research explores the facilitators and barriers to achieving appropriate amounts of physical activity to mitigate the development of comorbidities associated with a sedentary lifestyle but, more importantly, to improve the quality of life, health, and wellbeing of children with disabilities.

We are seeking research that explores this public health issue through the unique lenses of health care provision, environment, social justice, and the unique needs of the population of children with disabilities. It is our desire to provide a journal that explores this multifactorial issue and challenges health care providers to think creatively and explore strategies to meet this health care crisis.

References

Carty, C., van der Ploeg, H. P., Biddle, S. J., Bull, F., Willumsen, J., Lee, L., ... & Milton, K. (2021). The first global physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines for people living with disability. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 18(1), 86-93.

Case, L., Ross, S., & Yun, J. (2020). Physical activity guideline compliance among a national sample of children with various developmental disabilities. Disability and Health Journal, 13(2), 100881.

Lobelo, F., Muth, N. D., Hanson, S., & Nemeth, B. A. (2020). Physical activity assessment and counseling in pediatric clinical settings. Pediatrics, 145(3), e20193992. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-3992

Dr. Jennifer Tucker
Dr. Jeanette M. Garcia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.