Introduction: This article reports the physical abilities and physical wellness of three groups of children with different neurodevelopmental disabilities--Autism, Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disability. Methods: The causal-comparative research method was implemented in this study. The participants comprised 32 students with moderate…

Using the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (weighted population size = 35,460,209; 8-18 years old; 52.1% males), we compared the obesity prevalence in children and adolescents between body mass index-based (BMI-based) and total percent body fat-based (BF%-based, measured by the dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) cutoffs.…

Background: Parents have important roles to perceive the growth abnormalities of their children. Parental misperception can affect the children's long-term health problems. Aim: To investigate: (a) the accuracy of parents' perception of children's weight, height, and body shape, (b) the effects of misperception in caring for children's health, and…

Background: Balanced and adequate nutrition is important to improve the quality of life of children with intellectual disability but most of these children are negatively affected by nutritional problems. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the nutritional status and effect of the severity of intellectual disability on nutritional…

Background: School environments are important to consider for children's health. This study aims to determine if childhood peer bullying and school connectedness are associated with adolescent adiposity. Methods: A total of 3377 children from the age 9 child interview of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study had self-reported bullying and…

Based on parent questionnaires, we demonstrate the presence of an eating pattern among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is characterized by both food selectivity and eating in the absence of hunger. Children with ASD were categorized as engaging in eating patterns of selective overeating, selective eating only, overeating only, or…

We designed grip strength standards for youth by back-extrapolating cutpoints based on weakness at age 65. Existing standards, based on insufficient bone mineral content (BMC), were also compared in a nationally representative sample. Altogether, 6837 participants (n = 2199 [less than or equal to] 18.9 years of age) from the National Health and…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may demonstrate atypical autonomic (ANS) responses; however, research remains inconsistent. This study examined parasympathetic response during social evaluation in 241 youth (10-13 years) with ASD (n = 138) or typical development (TD; n = 103). Diagnosis, age, pubertal development, and body mass…

Childhood physical fitness relative to adult health outcomes coupled with scant longitudinal research indicates that tracking of fitness components throughout childhood/adolescence is imperative. The study examined the stability/tracking of 9 measures of fitness for boys and girls at 5 points throughout childhood/adolescence. Tracking coefficients…

Background: Children living in poverty often are exposed to situations that negatively affect various aspects of their development. So, it is important to propose interventional programs that minimize the negative effects of living in poverty on these children. Objective: To verify the impact of a mastery climate cognitive-motor skills…

Background: Adiposity is closely related to hypertension (HTN) in paediatric population. However, which adiposity indicator is most associated with HTN among children and adolescents with intellectual disability remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between HTN prevalence and different adiposity indicators: body…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of adapted play activities on physical fitness in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, the pretest-posttest design with a single experimental group was used. The sample of the study is comprised of 7 students with 7-13 years of age. In the measurement of physical…

The aim of this study is to investigate motor performance of children by age and gender. A total of 160 children (80 girls and 80 boys) participated in this study voluntarily. Children were divided into 4 groups according to their gender (girls and boys) and age (11 and 12 years). One Way ANOVA and LSD tests were used. There were statistically…

Background: Child development and life outcomes are partly linked to prenatal and maternal conditions such as mother's age at birth. Thus, the issue of teenage motherhood has attracted significant concern from researchers and policymakers because of its potential implications for children. The existing literature on effects of teenage motherhood…

Children and adolescents with disabilities benefit from physical activity. However, this population has lower fitness levels and higher rates of obesity than their peers, suggesting that they are not meeting physical activity guidelines and are experiencing barriers to participation. The purpose of this study was to quantify physical activity…