Physical activity, nutrition, and psychological well-being among youth with visual impairments and their siblings

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to examine physical activity, nutritional intake, and psychological well-being differences between youth with visual impairments and their siblings residing in the same household. A secondary purpose was to examine the relationship between physical activity behavior and psychological well-being among youth with visual impairments. Materials and Methods: A sample of 22 dyads of youth with visual impairments and siblings completed this study. Data were collected through parent-reported demographic and psychological well-being questionnaires, nutritional intake questionnaires, and accelerometry. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially, examining proportion difference using McNemar's z-test, and mean differences using multivariate analyses of variance. Results: Siblings without visual impairments had higher but not significantly higher daily average moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (d = 0.46), significantly higher prosocial score (d = 0.63), and lower but not significantly lower difficulty scores (d = 0.39), than youth with visual impairments. Small, not statistically significant, nutritional intake differences between siblings were found. Conclusions: Differences in physical activity and nutritional habits between those with visual impairments and their siblings were not significant, supporting the environmentally driven nature of these variables. Associations between physical activity and well-being were not apparent in this study but may be partially explained by low participant physical activity.

Automated summary

The study found that there were some differences in physical activity, nutritional intake, and psychological well-being between youth with visual impairments and their siblings, but these differences were not significant. Additionally, the association between physical activity and well-being was not apparent in this study.