AUTHOR=Zwinkels Maremka , Verschuren Olaf , Balemans Astrid , Lankhorst Kristel , te Velde Saskia , van Gaalen Leendert , de Groot Janke , Visser-Meily Anne , Takken Tim 

TITLE=Effects of a School-Based Sports Program on Physical Fitness, Physical Activity, and Cardiometabolic Health in Youth With Physical Disabilities: Data From the Sport-2-Stay-Fit Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2018.00075

DOI=10.3389/fped.2018.00075

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<sec id="ST1"><title>Objective</title><p>To investigate the effects of a school-based once-a-week sports program on physical fitness, physical activity, and cardiometabolic health in children and adolescents with a physical disability.</p></sec><sec id="ST2"><title>Methods</title><p>This controlled clinical trial included 71 children and adolescents from four schools for special education [mean age 13.7 (2.9) years, range 8–19, 55% boys]. Participants had various chronic health conditions including cerebral palsy (37%), other neuromuscular (44%), metabolic (8%), musculoskeletal (7%), and cardiovascular (4%) disorders. Before recruitment and based on the presence of school-based sports, schools were assigned as sport or control group. School-based sports were initiated and provided by motivated experienced physical educators. The sport group (<italic>n</italic> = 31) participated in a once-a-week school-based sports program for 6 months, which included team sports. The control group (<italic>n</italic> = 40) followed the regular curriculum. Anaerobic performance was assessed by the Muscle Power Sprint Test. Secondary outcome measures included aerobic performance, VO<sub>2</sub> peak, strength, physical activity, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, body composition, and the metabolic profile.</p></sec><sec id="ST3"><title>Results</title><p>A significant improvement of 16% in favor of the sport group was found for anaerobic performance (<italic>p</italic> = 0.003). In addition, the sport group lost 2.8% more fat mass compared to the control group (<italic>p</italic> = 0.007). No changes were found for aerobic performance, VO<sub>2</sub> peak, physical activity, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and the metabolic profile.</p></sec><sec id="ST4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Anaerobic performance and fat mass improved following a school-based sports program. These effects are promising for long-term fitness and health promotion, because sports sessions at school eliminate certain barriers for sports participation and adding a once-a-week sports session showed already positive effects for 6 months.</p></sec><sec id="ST5"><title>Clinical Trial Registration</title><p>This trial was registered with the Dutch Trial Registry (NTR4698).</p></sec>