A review of health promotion in children and youth with disabilities: Exercise and physical activity

Children and youth with disabilities are among the least active groups of individuals and therefore are at high risk for secondary disorders associated with a physically inactive, sedentary lifestyle. Because of the low abundance of research examining exercise in children and youth with disabilities, the purpose of this article was to review the effects of exercise (or physical activity) and the promotion of health behaviors in children and youth with disabilities. Selected articles were categorized into 3 areas: 1) health promotion such as exercise in children and youth with disabilities; 2) factors that contribute to health promotion and exercise; and 3) health promotion interventions using exercise strategies. Overall, a family-centered, community-based health promotion model plays an important role in not only health promotion and exercise, but also health care delivery. Furthermore, the most critical requirement for an exercise intervention project is to enhance the physical activity participation. In addition, long-term exercise prescriptions performed under daily-life conditions, along with complementary programs held in institutions, are more effective in maintaining and improving the health status of children and youth with disabilities. Finally, after all environmental factors are considered, the design and implementation of research-based exercise intervention programs is required in order to widely promote exercise in children and youth with disabilities in Taiwan.