RESEARCH ON PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY AND DISABILITY - AN EMERGING NATIONAL PRIORITY

Despite the voluminous amount of research that has been published in t he field of exercise science over the past three decades, there remain s a paucity of information on the activity patterns and physiological responses to exercise in persons with disabilities. In an era when phy sical activity has grown to new heights in terms of its importance in promoting health and preventing disease, many questions pertaining to how it affects the lives of individuals with physical and mental disab ilities remain unanswered. The purpose of this paper is to review the prevalence of disability in the United States and to present recommend ations for future research on physical activity and disability. A rela ted objective of this paper is to encourage exercise scientists to und ertake research on this increasingly significant group of American cit izens.