Relationship Between Physical Literacy and Habitual Physical Activity of Brazilian Children With Cerebral Palsy Who Can Walk.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This study aimed to analyze the relationship between physical literacy and habitual physical activity in children with cerebral palsy who can walk and to compare these aspects between them.

METHODS This was a cross-sectional study that included 43 children with cerebral palsy aged 6 to 12 years at Gross Motor Classification System (GMFCS) levels I and II. Participants wore Actigraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers for 1 week to assess physical activity levels and completed the Physical Literacy Profile Questionnaire (PLP-Quest) to assess physical literacy.

RESULTS No significant correlation was found between physical literacy and habitual physical activity. Seventy-eight percent of the participants met the World Health Organization's physical activity recommendations. Children at GMFCS level II showed higher sedentary behavior and lower light physical activity levels than those at level I, besides their similar physical literacy scores.

CONCLUSIONS More efforts are needed to reduce sedentary behavior, especially for children at GMFCS level II, and to encourage physical literacy development.