Is developmental coordination disorder a fundamental cause of inactivity and poor health-related fitness in children?

Abstract

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common, neurodevelopmental disorder of children that results in significant impairment in everyday activities of living. Over the past two decades, a large body of work has documented associations between DCD, physical inactivity, and poor health-related fitness. The exact nature of these relations, however, has been relatively little studied. In this paper, we ask whether the balance of evidence supports the proposition that DCD is a fundamental cause of inactivity and poor fitness. To address this question, we apply Hill's criteria for causation. We conclude that the evidence is consistent with, and reasonably supportive of, this proposition, but does not exclude alternative explanations.