Influence of motor skills training on children’s development evaluated in the Motor skills in PreSchool (MiPS) study-DK: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial, nested in a cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundGood motor skills are considered important for children’s physical, social, and psychological development, but the relationship is still poorly understood. Preschool age seems to be decisive for the development of motor skills and probably the most promising time-window in relation to preventive strategies based on improved motor skills. This research program has four overall aims: (1) investigation of the effect of a structured program aimed at improving motor skills in 3–6-year-old children on current and future motor skills, health, cognition, and wellbeing; (2) establish reference data on motor skills in 3–6-year-olds; (3) description of early development of musculoskeletal problems; and (4) establishment of a population-based cohort of 3–6-year-olds.MethodsOver a four-year period, all preschools in a Danish municipality, Svendborg, will implement a new program aimed at optimizing children’s motor skills. By introducing the program into a subset of the preschools at onset and comparing these children to another subset (control) that will not receive the intervention the first three years, it is possible to document a potential effect of the intervention. At the same time, a cohort will be established including all children attending preschools in the municipality with extensive baseline data collection: gross and fine motor skills; movement patterns; musculoskeletal complaints; physical activity; anthropometry; general wellbeing; cognitive abilities; language status; medical history; demographic background; and more.The children are aged 3–6 years at baseline. A total of 1461 children have been invited into the cohort, 368 to the intervention arm and 359 to the control arm. Follow-up time for the trial is 2.5 years. The cohort is planned to run at least until the children leave school at age 15–16 years. Longer follow-up will depend on future funding.DiscussionIf the results of the trial are positive, the intervention can be implemented in other similar settings with reasonable ease and at a relatively low initial cost. This is due to the extensive end-user involvement, the broad population base, and the pragmatic nature of the intervention. The cohort will provide important information about the influence of early motor skills on children’s development across many domains and the potential interactions between these domains.Trial registrationISRCTN registry, ISRCTN23701994. Registered on 13 October 2016.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-2143-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The development of a questionnaire to assess leisure time screen-based media use and its proximal correlates in children (SCREENS-Q)

“…Subsequently, a literature search identified and supplemented constructs from the socioecological model [22,23]. Based on this model we also included relevant questionnaire items from former or ongoing studies [13,16,17,[24][25][26][27].…”

Education of Children in the Area of Physical Actvities as a Foundation for Lifelong Sports

“…By preference for the movement and active spending of leisure time, this lifestyle becomes natural for children in the future (Healthy People 2020, 2010). Higher levels of schools (elementary school, secondary and university) can later on more easily develop and promote this desirable active behavior of children, later pupils and students (Dagkas & Stathi, 2007;Daum & Buschner, 2012;Hestbaek, 2017). Further exploration of this issue is necessary, especially in the youngest age categories, in order to understand the mechanism of the transfer of movement-active behavior into older age groups and to use this knowledge in the development of curricular documents for education (Cools, De Martelaer, Samaey, & Andries, 2009;Hastie, de Ojeda, & Luquin, 2011 2014).…”

The development of a questionnaire to assess leisure time screen-based media use and its proximal correlates in children (SCREENS-Q)

“…Subsequently, a literature search identified and supplemented constructs from the socio-ecological model (20,21). Based on this model we also included relevant questionnaire items from former or ongoing studies (13,14,16,(22)(23)(24)(25).…”