Poziom aktywności fizycznej osób z dysfunkcją narządu wzroku a zagrożenie chorobami cywilizacyjnymi – przegląd literatury

Background. Lack of vision and the fear of moving often associated with it predispose people to a sedentary lifestyle. A low level of physical activity may contribute to increase the prevalence of lifestyle diseases and deteriorate the quality of blind people’s life. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the level of physical activity and to enumerate the risks of lifestyle diseases of visually impaired people on the basis of literature and magazines published in English. Methods. By means of Medline browser a review of research publications in English language was made which included magazines issued after 2000 that concerned the level of physical activity and the incidence of lifestyle diseases. Results. Only five articles regarding the level of physical activity of people with visual impairment were found. In this review there were included three papers concerning the level of physical activity of visually impaired children and teenagers. The problem of lifestyle diseases was mentioned only in four articles. Conclusions. 1. Visually impaired people are characterized by a low level of physical activity. 2. The frequency of lifestyle diseases occurrence is higher in comparison with the general population. 3. There is a necessity to introduce educational programs that promote healthy lifestyle, including physical activity.