Impact of exergames on the anthropometric profile, cardiorespiratory conditioning and functional autonomy in individuals with Down syndrome

The aim of the study was to verify the effect of exergames on the anthropometric profile, cardiorespiratory fitness and functional auton-omy in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Research approved under protocol No. 1,180,516 and CAAE 45756115.5.0000.5285. The sample consisted of 11 participants (29.9 +/- 9.46 years) with DS of both sexes (4 women and 7 men) from the Psychosocial Research and Intervention Laboratory (LAPIP) of the Federal University of Sao Joao Del Rei (UFSJ). ). Subjects who had any clinical condition that could be aggravated by physical exercise (PE) were excluded. Cardiorespiratory fitness (AC), body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and functional autonomy (GDLAM Protocol) were evaluated. Initially, there was a 4-week adaptation to the virtual environment, after which the intervention period lasted 16 weeks, 3 times a week on alternate days, lasting 60 min, using the Xbox 360TM and KinectTM tool. The results demonstrate that BMI significantly reduced in the pre-test (27.25 +/- 6.73) in relation to the post-test (26.95 +/- 6.82), in both groups. The WHR of the female group in the pre-and post-test was 0.89 +/- 0.004 and 0.84 +/- 0.03, respectively, in the male group in the pre and post-test it was 0.95 +/- 0.08 and 0. 90 +/- 0.08, respectively. For AC, pre-and post-test means were 31.63 +/- 5.78 and 27.81 +/- 4.79 for both groups. Functional autonomy had an initial mean (GI) of 38.62 +/- 10.86, drop-ping significantly to 24.17 +/- 7.46 after physical exercise with exergames (p < 0.005), in both sexes. The study concluded that exergames brought significant improvements in parameters related to AC, BMI, WHR and functional autonomy in individuals with SD, thus improving their quality of life.