Battling Sedentarism in Children with Special Educational Needs through Inclusive Physical Activity.

Sedentarism refers to physical inactivity and increased sitting time or sedentary behaviour, which is associated with premature deaths and non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, as well as with poor physical and mental health. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that children and adolescents engage in on average 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity while reducing the time they spend being sedentary. Yet, over 80% of children with special educational needs (SEN) do not meet the WHO recommendations. The project aims to examine the effects of an IPA programme on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and physical and mental health in children with SEN. Children will be cluster randomly allocated either to a 3-month IPA condition or to a wait-list control condition. It will be the first project to put the WHO recommendations on both physical activity and sedentary behaviour into practice.