Physical activity in children and adolescents with developmental delay: is the built environment a pathway for meeting physical activity guidelines?

Despite the importance of physical activity (PA) for health only 25% of children and adolescents in the United States meet guidelines for PA and only 19% of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities meet PA guidelines. Children with developmental delay may eventually be diagnosed with a developmental disability and given the relationship between developmental disability and delay it is likely that children with delay also have lower levels of PA. We need a clear understanding of the relationship between developmental delay and PA in order to address health inequities. Additionally access to built environment features such as parks and recreation centers may not lead to similar increases in PA for children with and without developmental delay. To help communities better design features to equitably promote PA in all children there is a need to identify the features that increase PA among children with developmental delays. Increasing PA in children and adolescents is a Healthy People 2030 objective and a MCHB Strategic Research Issue under �Goal 3: Promote the Health and WellBeing of Children�. GOALS and OBJECTIVES: Overall goals are to determine if there are differences in PA for children with and without current developmental delay or a history of developmental delay and to identify facilitators in the built environment of PA among children with developmental delay. Objectives: 1. Quantify the relationship between developmental delay status (none current history of) and PA in children ages 6-17 years. 2. Quantify the relationship between access to built environment features and PA modified by developmental delay status. PROPOSED DATA SETS and TARGET POPULATIONS: We will analyze 2016-2021 data from the National Survey of Children�s Health (NSCH). Funded by the HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau the NSCH is conducted annually and collects data for non-institutionalized children ages 0 to 17 years from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey sample is weighted to be representative of the US child population. The survey includes specific questions about whether children have a current developmental delay or a history of developmental delay. Additionally there are questions about access to built environment features including parks and playgrounds sidewalks and walking paths and recreation and community centers. The target population for our study is children and adolescents ages 6-17 years with and without current or a history of developmental delays.