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Infographic. Communicate physical activity guidelines for disabled children and disabled young people
  1. Brett Smith1,
  2. Jake Netherway1,
  3. Patrick Jachyra1,
  4. Lydia Bone2,
  5. Beelin Baxter3,
  6. Jamie Blackshaw3,
  7. Charlie Foster4
  1. 1 Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, UK
  2. 2 Disability Rights, London, UK
  3. 3 United Kingdom Department of Health and Social Care, London, UK
  4. 4 Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Bristol Centre, Bristol, UK
  1. Correspondence to Professor Brett Smith, Sport and Exercise Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3HN, UK; brett.smith{at}durham.ac.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-105411

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    Background

    In 2019, the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) physical activity guidelines were updated.1 These new guidelines provided physical activity recommendations for non-disabled and disabled adults, older adults aged 65 years and over, women during pregnancy and during postpartum, individuals aged under 5 years, and non-disabled children and young people. However, there was no review of the physical activity evidence for disabled children and disabled young people in the 2019 UK guidelines. This gap was recognised and it was recommended that specific public health guidelines needed to be developed for this group.1 In 2021, the UK Government Department of Health and Social Care (on behalf of the CMOs) tasked us to review the evidence on physical activity pertaining to disabled children and disabled young people aged between 5 and 17 and, if sufficient evidence, communicate the guidelines appropriately.2

    Our review found no evidence to show that physical activity is unsafe for disabled children and disabled young people, while also indicating various benefits of physical activity for this population who can participate in active physical activities.3 We also recommended that disabled children and disabled young people should do challenging strength and balance-focused activities on average three times per week.3 There was evidence that some physical activity is better than nothing, and that even small amounts can bring health benefits. Our review identified that substantial health gains …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @BrettSmithProf, @FosteratBristol

    • Contributors BS led the project with support from CF. BS, JN, PJ and LB managed the coproduction process. BS and CF outlined the manuscript and supplementary material. All authors contributed to the development and writing of the work.

    • Funding Department of Health and Social Care and the Economic and Social Research Council (Durham University Impact Acceleration Account).

    • Competing interests LB reports as the Get Yourself Active Programme Manager of Disability Rights UK. Disability Rights UK is the leading charity of its kind in the UK. We are run by and for people with lived experience of disability or health conditions. BB and JB report as employers for the Department of Health and Social Care.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.