The Effect of Age on Physical Fitness of Deaf Elementary School Children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure physical fitness of deaf Dutch elementary school children compared with hearing children and to investigate the influence of age on physical fitness. Deaf children were physically less fit than hearing children. Overall, physical fitness increased with age in deaf children, but no significant differences were found between the age groups of 9–10 years and 11–12 years on most of the Eurofit items. The difference in performance between deaf and hearing children, favoring the latter, increased with age in handgrip strength and the 20-m endurance shuttle run. More attention should be paid to developing and maintaining an adequate level of physical fitness in deaf children.