Monitoring Physical Activity in Students with Intellectual Disabilities: The Contribution of Physical Education, Gender and Disability Level

Individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs) consistently demonstrate lower levels of objectively measured physical activity (PA) compared to the general population, yet limited evidence exists regarding how activity accumulated during physical education (PE) contributes to overall daily movement within structured school contexts. Within the school setting, PE represents one of the primary structured opportunities for engaging students with IDs in PA. Although objective physical activity monitoring approaches are recommended for school-based PA assessment, limited evidence exists on the contribution of PE to total school-day activity in students with intellectual disabilities, a gap addressed in the present study. In this context, the present study objectively recorded PA levels of students with IDs both during PE lessons and across five school days, in order to examine the contribution of PE to overall PA. Potential differences in PA according to gender and severity of the ID were also examined. Twenty students aged 15-25 years with mild and moderate IDs participated in the study. PA was assessed using the YAMAX Power Walker EX-510 pedometer, which automatically recorded step counts. The results indicated that only six participants reached step-count reference values. Students with mild IDs accumulated significantly more steps than those with moderate IDs, while male students were more physically active than female students, both during PE lessons and across the school day. PE lessons contributed approximately 4% to the total PA accumulated across the five monitored school days. These findings highlight the limited contribution of PE to overall PA and underscore the importance of promoting greater movement opportunities within adapted PE lessons.