Physical activity participation in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders in Iran

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopment disorder. the level of physical activity in children and adolescents with autism spectrum is lower than their typically development peers. the main purpose of this study is the investigation the level of physical activity in children and adolescents with autism spectrum in Iran.The present research type is descriptive and survey method. The statistical samples include ۳۷۰ children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders in both sex (۲۳۳ boys and ۱۳۷ girls) and in the age of ۸ to ۲۰ years who were selected through simple sampling. we used the International Standard Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children and the International Standard Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents. These are two ۷-days self-report questionnaires that measure the level of moderate to severe physical activity. The questionnaires sent electronically to families with children with autism spectrum. Finally, descriptive and inferential statistical methods with SPSS۲۳ software were used to analyze the data.The results showed that ۷۳.۸% of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder reported sedentary activities during the last ۷ days and only ۱۷.۸% of them were active occasionally (۱ to ۲ times per week). ۶.۵% (۳ to ۴ times last week) participated in physical activity and ۱.۱% (۵ to ۶ times last week) participated in physical activity. Also during the last seven days on weekends, ۵۸/۲% reported sitting, ۲۲/۲% walking or standing, and ۱۴.۶% running or active playing and only ۱.۱% reported lots of running or playing. Also, there was no significant difference between girls and boys in participation in physical activity.The results of this study showed Iranian children and adolescents with ASD have low levels of participation in physical activities. Physical activity participation is associated with mental, social and physical health benefits. It seems that the results of the present study would be a positive step towards identifying physical activity patterns in children and adolescents with ASD and can be a helpful for considerable efforts to promotion of participation in physical activity.