Health-Related Fitness and Motor Competence in Children with a Vision Impairment: A Cross-Sectional Study of Children in Ireland

Abstract Health-related fitness (HRF) and motor competence are positive predictors of physical activity (PA) in children. In Ireland, children who are blind/vision impaired (BVI) may be less active than the general population (Flynn et al., 2024), but no data exists on HRF and motor competence amongst BVI children in Ireland. Health-related fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength) and motor competence were assessed in 59 children (age range 9–17 years, median age: 13 years, mean age: 12.34 ± 2.40 years, 40% female) with BVI. Motor competence was low, with throw (22%) two-hand strike (29%) and kick (31%) having the lowest percentage mastery/near-mastery. Over a third (38%) of participants had poor cardiorespiratory endurance. Cluster analysis revealed two clusters. Children in the lower competence cluster were significantly less likely to have healthy cardiorespiratory endurance and had significantly poorer motor competence in six of ten skills. Participants demonstrated poor muscular strength but satisfactory cardiorespiratory endurance. A third or more of participants scored poorly on 7 out of 9 motor competence tests. A support pathway with appropriate resources should be put in place for practitioners who support BVI children, focusing on PA engagement, and specifically HRF and MC development.