Effectiveness of Active Video Games in Children With Intellectual Disabilities

Background: Children with intellectual disabilities (ID) are more vulnerable to obesity when compared to the normal children (Getchell et al., 2012; Maiano, 2011). Active video games (AVGs) on physical activity (PA) behavior have attracted academic interest and exploration since 2000. It has been demonstrated that an intervention with AVGs is compatible with the school setting and behavioral change in health and PA (Lau, et al., 2015). However, special populations such as ID children and their needs have been neglected in this area (Martins, Carvalho \& Soares, 2011). ID children's PA behavior, motor ability and physical fitness is still an under-explored area. Aims: To determine the effect of a prescribed AVG intervention on ID children's PA levels (sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous), motor ability, and physical fitness. The intervention effects in children with mild intellectual disability will be explored. Design: A standard two-arm parallel, single-blinded, randomized control cluster trial. Schools: Participants will be recruited from six special schools in Hong Kong. Schools with same intellectual disability categories will be randomly assigned into intervention group and control group. Participants: 200 Children aged 8\~18 years old with intellectual disabilities will be recruited. Intervention: ID children randomized to the intervention group will participate in an AVG intervention 60 minutes per week for 12 weeks in their PE class, in addition to their usual activity levels. The research team will prescribe updated AVG consistent with moderate-vigorous intensity. Control: The control group will continue with usual PA alone and will not receive the AVG intervention. Analysis: Repeated measures mixed model (2 groups X 2 time points (12-week post- test and 8-week follow up test)) by SPSS 23.0 will be used to investigate the intervention effect on primary and secondary outcomes, adjusting for baseline characteristics and correlation between repeate