Application of physical therapy exercise to special school adolescent students with increased BMI, to improve balance and jumping performance

Introduction: Balance difficulties result from reduced mobility, and reduced activity, leading also to obesity occurrence in children and adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. Purpose: Τhis study’s is to investigate Physiotherapy Exercise’s effects on the components of balance and jumping agility in adolescent students of Special Schools. Methods: 24 special education students, age 13-20, were divided into two groups, a Control Group with Body Mass Index (BMI) mean 23.99 ± 8.56 kg/m² with and Physiotherapy (PT) Exercise group with BMI mean: 35.03 ± 10.89 kg/m². The rehabilitation program included balance exercises, coordination task exercises, core strength and ball exercises. Intervention lasted 2 sessions per week for 3 months, 45 minutes each. Participants were evaluated with balance, agility and coordination tasks before and after the experiment process. Results: The results were analyzed in by using SPSS program. Groups differed significantly from each other in terms of Body Mass Index. Control group performed better on all tests in the first evaluation phase. There was significant improvement in both groups. PTE Group increased percent change (Mean >15%) in post-intervention tasks performance. Conclusion: Balance and agility improvement is affected by weight gaining factors. Physiotherapy exercise benefits balance and jumping ability improvement, when it comes to special school adolescent students with increased (BMI). More research needs to be conducted for a comprehensive perspective.