Exploring needs, barriers, and facilitators for promoting physical activity for children with intellectual developmental disorders: A qualitative focus group study

Abstract

Background: Many children with intellectual developmental disorders are insufficiently physically active and do not reach recommendations for physical activity. Pediatric healthcare providers play a key role in addressing these children’s needs, including promoting interventions for physical activity. Aim: To explore pediatric healthcare providers’ perceived needs, barriers, and facilitators for promoting physical activity for children with intellectual developmental disorders. Methods: Semi-structured focus groups, analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Sixteen healthcare providers participated. Results: Main findings are the importance of parental support and engagement, need for structure, and stakeholder collaboration to bridge the gap between pediatric organizations and external stakeholders. Conclusion: The study highlights the need for developing and implementing strategies to promote physical activity for children with intellectual developmental disorders in pediatric health care, and for producing guidelines regarding physical activity interventions for this vulnerable group.