Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Measuring the Functional Abilities of Children Aged 3-6 Years Old with Observational Methods and Computer Tools
Published on: June 20, 2020
An exploratory study of after-school sedentary behaviour in elementary school-age children with intellectual
John T Foley1, Jeffrey A McCubbin
1Department of Physical Education, State University of New York, Cortland, NY 13045-0900, USA. foleyj@cortland.edu
Background:
The purpose of this study was both to investigate if children with intellectual disability (ID) spend more time watching television and on the computer than their peers without disabilities and if total screen time correlates with physical activity in these same children.
Methods:
Participants were 9 children with ID matched with 9 children without ID, aged 7-12 years. Participants were matched by gender, age, and body mass index (BMI). Parents logged after-school television and computer time. Physical activity was recorded with accelerometers.
Results:
Mann-Whitney tests revealed no difference between television or computer time between the groups. Correlations between physical activity and screen time revealed that children without ID had a low relationship between physical activity and screen time (tau = -.11, p = .64). Conversely, children with ID had a moderate relationship between physical activity and screen time (tau = .56, p = .04).
Conclusions:
These results suggest that there might be different patterns of sedentary behaviours between children with and without ID, indicating that unique interventions may be needed for individuals with ID.
