The effect of aerobic training on static balance and eye-hand coordination in children with cancer

Introduction: Attention, Balance and Coordination (ABC Learning) are importance for learning. Goddard Blythe (2009) stresses the importance of the relationship between these three elements in terms of the child’s readiness to learn. If a child cannot maintain good control and coordination over her body, she/he is not well equipped for learning. Once a child has achieved these movement skills to age-appropriate levels, she/he is then perceived to be ready to learn. In children with cancer that physical preparation is damaged because of primary and secondary effects of disease and drug treatments, improvement of these factors is critical. Methodology: 33 children with cancer (girls= 15 n, boys= 18 n, mean age=10.1, mean weight=31.5) voluntarily were participated in research. Physical activity questionnaire and consent letter were completed by parents. 17 children assigned to aerobic training group and 16 children assigned to control group. Experimental group exercised for 3 months and 3 sessions in week and each session was one hour. Before and after of training protocol, both of groups completed static balance test by BIODEX instrument and eye-hand coordination test with VIENNA. Results: data analysis using spss software and paired-t test showed that static balance and eye-hand coordination of experimental group were improved significantly from beginning to end of protocol (P ..05). however because of treatment problems in control group, they were unable to participate in post test. So there was not possibility of comparing experimental group with control group. Discussion: Regular physical activity (Aerobic exercise) can be a good way to prepare children in terms of physical coordination and balance requirements for entry to school and next learning.