Promoting Health-Related Fitness for Elementary Students with Intellectual Disabilities through a Specifically Designed Activity Program.

The Motivate, Adapt, and Play Program was specifically designed as an adapted physical activity (PA) program for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) to meet required school PA policies to combat childhood obesity. The policies commonly require a minimum of 30 min of PA per school day. A study was undertaken to test the efficacy of the program. Twenty-five students with ID (9 girls, 16 boys; ages 9.7 ± 1.2) from four elementary schools in the southeastern United States participated in the study. The health-related fitness measures of the 16-m shuttle run test, the modified curl-up test, and the back-saver sit-and-reach test were completed at the beginning and at the end of an 8-week period. Body mass index (BMI) measurements were also obtained. During the interval, participants completed a 30 min/day, 5 days/week activity program, focusing on cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, and muscular strength and endurance activities, utilizing specialized equipment. Over the 8 weeks, there was a significant increase in the health-related fitness scores obtained. As expected, there was a slight decrease in BMI over 8 weeks, although it was a nonsignificant finding. The findings suggest that the health-related fitness of students with ID can be improved through engaging in a school-based daily adapted PA program.