Association between fundamental movement skills and accelerometer-measured physical activity in orphan children with severe intellectual disabilities.

Background: Children with intellectual disabilities (ID) typically exhibit low levels of physical activity (PA) and delayed motor skills. Understanding the motor skill factors that influence PA participation in this population is essential for designing effective interventions. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between fundamental motor skills (FMS) and objectively measured PA among orphan children with severe ID residing in welfare institutions.

Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was undertaken from January 2019 and October 2020. A total of 267 children (180 boys and 87 girls) with severe ID, with a mean age of 10.51 years, from 12 cities' welfare institutions in China were included. FMS were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition (TGMD-2). PA was objectively measured by an ActiGraph GT3X + accelerometer. Multiple linear regression to examine associations between two FMS components (object control skills and locomotor skills) and PA (weekday and weekend day PA), separately.

Results: Children with severe ID living in welfare institutions displayed relatively low weekly PA, with mean moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA, ≥ 2800 counts/min) of 33.29 (range: 16.43-59.86) minutes. Pearson correlation indicated that light PA (100-2,799 counts/min), MVPA, and total PA showed moderate but positive correlations with both locomotor skills (range: r = 0.359-0.433) and object control skills (range: r = 0.381-0.449). Regression analysis indicated that object control skills explained more of the total variance than locomotor skills for weekly light PA (β = 0.287 vs. β = 0.243, p < 0.05) and MVPA (β = 0.331 vs. β = 0.0292, p < 0.05).

Conclusions: FMS may predict participation in regular PA among children with severe ID, with object control skills more predictive than locomotor skills. Developing FMS in children with severe ID may be an important strategy for improving their PA levels.