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By Rachel Lawler

The UK’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) have released the first ever guidance on physical activity for children and young people with disabilities, aiming to improve their physical and mental health.

The guidance is based on research by Durham University, the University of Bristol and Disability Rights UK which found that regular exercise is equally beneficial for disabled children as non-disabled children aged between two- and 17-years-old.

The researchers found that regular exercise has physical and mental benefits for people of all ages, but children with disabilities are less likely to be active than their peers, which can lead to health disparities which widen as they get older.

180 minutes a week
The guidelines recommend that disabled children get a total of 120 to 180 minutes of aerobic exercise, such as walking each week. It also recommended that they complete three sessions of “challenging but manageable” strength and balance activities, such as yoga or modified sports, each week.

The CMOs suggest that children build up slowly to exercise when starting for the first time and break down the larger targets into smaller chunks of activity to make it more manageable – such as 20 minutes a day or 40 minutes three times a week.

An important step
The UK CMOs, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Professor Sir Michael McBride, Professor Sir Gregor Smith and Sir Frank Atherton, said: “We are delighted to present this report and infographic which are an important step forward in addressing the gap in physical activity guidelines for disabled children and disabled young people.

“We encourage schools, parents, carers and healthcare professionals to communicate and promote these guidelines across their wider professional networks to enable appropriate physical activity opportunities for disabled children and disabled young people in their communities.”

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