Physical activity impact on motor development and oxidative stress biomarkers in school children with intellectual disability.

OBJECTIVE Lower physical fitness and poor motor performance were shown to be linked with higher levels of oxidative stress in children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, a moderate aerobic exercise for 12-weeks was performed to evaluate the effects of physical activity scores on motor functions, oxidative stress, and intelligence quotients (IQ) in school children with intellectual disability. METHODS A total of 65 school children aged (12-18 Yrs) were randomly included in this study. Intellectual disability (ID),motor skills,physical fitness(VO2max), total energy expenditure (TEE), MDA, 8-OHdG, TAC, NO, and total oxidative stress(OS)were assessed using pre-validated WISC-IQ score test, BOT-2 test, PA questionnaire, and immunoassay techniques respectively. RESULTS WISC-IQ and BOT-2 set scores of intellectual and motor skills performance showed a significant correlation with physical activity status and the regulation of oxidative stress-free radicals in school children with mild and moderate ID following 12 weeks of moderate exercise. The intellectual and motor skills performance of the participants correlated positively with the increase in TAC activity and physical fitness scores and negatively with MDA, 8-OHdG, NO, and Total-OS, respectively. Stepwise multiple regression analysis of the demographic, physical status and oxidative stress parameters explained around78.0 to 93.4 % of intellectual disability variation among schoolchildren. CONCLUSION Moderate aerobic training for12 weeks has a positive impact on improving intellectual ability of schoolchildren with ID via modulating redox status, improves physical fitness, and motor skills proficiency.