Preliminary evidence suggests that children with congenital heart disease (CHD) may have low physical literacy (PL). High PL is a determinant of physical activity participation. Therefore, we assessed the effect of a 12-week intervention on the PL of children with CHD. PL was assessed pre- and post-intervention in 14 participants with CHD, aged 9-16 years, using the PLAY tools. The intervention involved six bi-weekly sessions that consisted of a fundamental movement skill practice designed to enhance gross motor function and confidence. PLAYfun assessed physical competence. PLAYself assessed the child’s perception of their PL. PLAYparent was completed by parents to assess their perception of their child’s PL. We found a significant increase in overall physical competence (PLAYfun, p<.001), along with the domains of running (p=.001), locomotor (p=.002), upper body object control (p<.001), and balance (p=.006). No significant changes were found in PLAYself or PLAYparent indicating no changes to their self and parental perceived PL. We demonstrated that a 12-week fundamental movement skill intervention can improve PL in children with CHD. Children with CHD are at an increased risk of sequelae secondary to their reported physical inactivity, PL development may augment physical activity engagement and provide health benefits to this at-risk population.
Increasing children’s physical activity engagement has short- and long-term health benefits. Developing physical competence is a key component of children’s engagement in physical activity. The purpose of our study was to assess if a 12-week home, school, and community-based physical literacy intervention improved the physical competence of children in kindergarten and grade one. Four schools were either assigned to receive the intervention (n = 2 schools) or continue with their usual practice (control sites) (n = 2 schools). Physical competence was evaluated pre- and post-intervention in 103 intervention (41 female) and 83 usual practice (36 female) children using PLAY Fun. PLAY Parent and PLAY Coach tools measured parent and teacher perspectives of children’s physical competence, respectively. The intervention effect was assessed with repeated measures MANOVA to evaluate change in physical competence, with alpha set at p < 0.05. Children in both groups improved their locomotor, object control, and overall physical competence (p < 0.05) over the 12-week intervention. There was a significant intervention effect for locomotor and overall physical competence (p < 0.05). Interestingly, parents did not perceive these changes in physical competence (p > 0.05). However, teachers perceived improved physical competence for children in the intervention. Our physical literacy intervention improved the physical competence of children in kindergarten and grade one.
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