Assessment of measures of physical activity of children with cerebral palsy at home and school: a pilot study

Abstract

ABSTRACTHome and school are important settings where children can accrue health promoting physical activity (PA). Little&nbsp;is known about the PA levels and associated environmental characteristics at home and school in children with&nbsp;cerebral palsy (CP). An observational tool - Behaviors of Eating and Activity for Children&rsquo;s Health Evaluation System&nbsp;(BEACHES) - offers potential for providing information.Objective: To validate BEACHES against Actigraph accelerometer and to document PA of children with CP at&nbsp;a special residential school facility for children with physical disabilities.Methods: Five children with CP (2 girls, 3 boys; aged 9.82 &plusmn; 2.39 years) in Level I of the Gross Motor Function&nbsp;Classification System (GMFCS) participated. PA monitoring was conducted once a week during four consecutive&nbsp;weeks at morning recess at school and during after school hours at the children&rsquo;s residence. Estimates of time&nbsp;spent being sedentary and being active were derived from the Actigraph and compared to estimates obtained with&nbsp;BEACHES.Results: Children&rsquo;s PA observed using BEACHES was comparable to the Actigraph estimations. In general,&nbsp;children were more active at recess than after school and the physical locations assessed by BEACHES were&nbsp;associated with objectively measured PA time.Conclusion: This pilot study indicates that BEACHES appears to be a suitable measure of PA for children with&nbsp;CP in both home and school settings. Additional study with a larger and more diverse sample is recommended to&nbsp;verify the results.</div