New guidelines on physical activity for disabled children

The UK's Chief Medical Officers have published its first ever guidelines on physical activity for disabled children and young people, and schools, parents, carers and healthcare professionals are being asked to communicate and promote them.

The guidance recommends daily levels of physical activity and is underpinned by research from Durham University, University of Bristol and Disabilities Rights UK. The infographic is the first of its kind to be co-produced with disabled children, young people and their families.

The new guidelines recommend disabled children and young people undertake 120 to 180 minutes of aerobic physical activity per week at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity. This can be achieved in different ways (for example 20 minutes per day or 40 minutes 3 times per week) through activities such as walking or cycling.

It recommends they complete challenging, but manageable, strength and balance activities three times per week which are particularly beneficial for muscle strength and motor skills. For example, indoor wall climbing, yoga, and modified sports such as basketball or football.

They are urged to build up slowly to avoid injury when first starting to exercise, and to break down their exercise into bite-size chunks of physical activity throughout the day to make it more manageable.

The UK Chief Medical Officers, 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."