Physical activity, sedentary behaviour and quality of life in children with autism: insights from Romania and Greece

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated sedentarism in children, including those with autism. Given the importance of the topic for long-term health, this study aimed to explore the post-pandemic relationship between physical activity, sedentary behaviours and quality of life (QOL) in children with autism from Romania and Greece.

Methods

An online questionnaire collected information regarding physical activity levels in children and their parents, children’s sedentary behaviours and QOL from 83 Romanian parents (m1_age = 40.1; sd1_age = 6.37) and 42 Greek parents (m2_age = 39.5; sd2_age = 5.45) between March and July 2022.

Results

Most Greek children (95%) had 2 or 3 weekly hours of physical education at school/kindergarten, while only 64% of Romanian children had the same level of physical education. Romanian parents reported being more active (χ²_weekdays= 33.7, df = 3, p < .001; (χ²_leisure= 41.8, df = 2, p < .001) than the Greek counterparts. Contrary to expectations, the parents’ physical activity did not correlate with the child’s physical activity. Sedentary behaviour time was significantly higher in Greek than Romanian children during working days and the weekends. Sedentary behaviour during weekdays predicted the child’ QOL.

Conclusions

This exploratory study offers insight into Romanian and Greek children’s patterns of physical and sedentary activities. The results stress the need to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary behaviours in children with autism from Romania and Greece. The practical implications and limits of this exploratory approach were further discussed.

Keywords:

• sedentary behaviour
• physical activity
• quality of life
• screen time
• autism
• family caregiving

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the ERAMUS+ Project “Autism Play Therapy for Movement” (622353-EPP-1-2020-1-EN-SPO-SSCP).