Children with disabilities advised to do these exercises by medical officials

Updated on February 16, 2022 at 3:14 PM

CMOs have mandated specific tasks for better physical health for children with a disability for the first time. Here is what you should do.

UK: Medical officers have issued new physical exercise guidelines for disabled children

Four medical experts have published new physical activity guidelines for youngsters with disabilitiesfor the very first time in the UK.

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The guidelines are based on research from Durham University, the University of Bristol, and Disabilities Rights UK.

Physical activity guidelines

According to the recommendation of the chief medical officers, children with disabilities should:

Do physical training every day for 20 minutes
Do strength and balance activities three times a week
Do moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic activities for 120 to 180 minutes a week.

Chief medical officers, Sir Chris Whitty, Sir Michael McBride, Sir Gregor Smith and Sir Frank Atherton, say:

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.

Physical activity could be just as helpful for children with a disability as it will be for those who did not have a condition, according to the findings.

Physical activity guidelines

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A first

While chief medical officers have previously released physical activity guidelines for children and teenagers in the United Kingdom, this is the first time such recommendations have been made for children with disabilities. Smith adds:

From a public health perspective, we can say x amount of physical activity is good for you or not, but until we have inclusive environments, until we have equality in those contexts, then children will always struggle, and their parents will always struggle to be able to do that.

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