Meeting the 24-hr movement guidelines: An update on US youth with autism spectrum disorder from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health.
Seán Healy, Carrie J Aigner, Justin A Haegele and 1 others
PMID 30892834WHAT IT FOUND
Youth with autism were less likely than peers to meet activity and screen-time guidelines.
Children with autism were also less likely to meet the sleep guideline. For adolescents, sleep was similar to peers.
Key findings
01Children with autism had a 39% reduced odds of meeting the physical activity guideline compared with typically developing children.
02Adolescents with autism were 59% less likely to meet the physical activity guideline compared with typically developing adolescents.
03Children and adolescents with autism were less likely to meet all three 24-hr movement guidelines compared with typically developing youth.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
All health behaviour measures were parent reported, and the paper notes response bias and error can affect these reports. The activity, screen-time, and sleep measures used were not validated. Autism diagnosis and severity were based on parent report, not objective clinical measures. The survey cannot be used to compare trends with previous National Survey of Children's Health waves because questions changed. This is a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show cause.
Declared interests
The National Survey of Children's Health was sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau and undertaken by the US Census Bureau. The supplied text does not include an author conflict of interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autism causes lower guideline adherence. The study measured these behaviours at one time point and relied on parent report, so it cannot show cause.