Introduction:
The shaping of body posture is associated with the development of the osteoligament and muscular systems, muscles innervations together with the development of the balance organs and the prioprioceptive sense. Mentally disabled children clearly diff er with respect to body posture from their able-bodied contemporaries. The more severe the disability, the greater deformities and defl ections from the adequate body posture. The maintenance of an adequate body posture requires the balance balanced fl exes on muscles working in opposition muscular tensions acting antithetically, and therefore, specifi ed energetic capabilities.

Objective:
The objective of the study is to show body posture defects, anaerobic failure, and the relationship between body posture and energetic predispositions of children disabled mentally to a moderate and considerable degree.

Material and Methods:
The study covered 201 severely mentally disabled children aged 12 - 18 from south-eastern Poland. Body posture was evaluated in the frontal and saggital planes, and position of the lower extremities. The following defects of the lower extremities were assessed: genu valgum (knocked knees) and genu varum (bow legs), flattened feet, flat feet and talipes planovarus. The measurement was also performed of body weight, and long jump without approach run. The results obtained served to calculate the maximum anaerobic power (MAP) of the disabled, and were compared with the results of the intellectually disabled. Measurement data were subjected to three-factor analysis of variance, where the independent variables were: gender, degree of disability, occurrence of posture defects or posture categories, and the dependent variable was the MAP index. Null hypotheses were verifi ed by means of F Snedecor’s test, the p values p<0.05 were considered statistically signifi cant.

Results:
The results obtained show that in the majority of the children examined, posture defects were observed in the spine region rather than in the lower extremities. Anaerobic power, irrespective of posture defects, was higher in children who were disabled to a moderate degree.

Conclusions:
Energetic predispositions on the anaerobic background among severely disabled children are, on average, three times lower than those who are intellectually able. The degree of mental disability and scoliosis determine anaerobic power in severely mentally disabled patients.