Measuring Physical Activity of Youth with Developmental Disabilities Participating in a Summer Camp

Abstract

Keeping healthy weight is a balance between diet and physical activity (PA), with PA important in energy balance and other health benefits. Due to insufficient health-enhancing PA, youth with developmental disabilities (DD) have a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity when compared with their peers. The purpose of this study was to determine a method using pedometers to measure step count during daily activity in a summer program serving youth with DD. Data were collected from 52 children. Mean total number of steps per day were 3392±1474 for boys and 2527±915 for girls. Although mean steps fell short of recognized norms (> 10,000 steps), the study established a protocol for determining the activity of children with DD during summer activity.