Exploring the impact of independent running on physical activity levels and psychosocial aspects in children with vision impairments (study case: regular exposure to a running-line in a school setting)

Winta Tridhatu Satwikasanti
2022
Children with Vision Impairments (VI) have not met the recommendation of daily time spent in Moderate-Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA). Building active participation in PA at an early age is crucial to developing a healthy lifestyle in adult life. The proposed problem-solving in this research was providing a Running-line as an assistive product to let children with VI run independently. Running is a fundamental motor skill leading to more advanced sports participation. Three studies were
more » ... ted to answer the question, 'Will the Running-line make children with VI more active?' Study 1 explored how the children with VI perceived running and their motivation towards running through group discussions. This study involved 23 children with VI (age 11±2.7 yr), their teacher, and parents. The discussions showed that children with VI perceived running as a positive activity related to the physical and social environment. In addition, the thematic analysis revealed four themes which related to each other: (1) Safety determines the level of independence, (2) Run should be fun, (3) Positive experience as the main channel to build competence, and (4) Freedom means contact with nature and people to build confidence. Study 2 was a feasibility study to explore an adequate wearable activity monitor to measure physical activity levels in children with VI. A set of five semi-structured activities covering sedentary to MVPA was developed based on the Children Activity Rating Scale (CARS). Two accelerometers (i.e., ActtivPAL and Actigraph GT3X+) were compared. Eight children with VI (age 9 ± 2.65) and five sighted peers (age 9±2 yr) as the control group were recruited. The results showed that the Actigraph was adequate to measure the children with VI in the natural setting. Study 3 investigated the impact of regular independent running using a Running-line over eight weeks on physical activity level (i.e. MVPA) and psychosocial aspects (i.e. attraction to PA and self-concept) in children with VI (n=24, age 12±2.1 yr) and their co [...]
doi:10.26174/thesis.lboro.20142107 fatcat:pnd654c52zhexfdljf5r42tab4