Motor Competence and Physical Activity in Early Childhood: Stability and Relationship

Schmutz, Einat A.; Leeger‐Aschmann, Claudia S.; Kakebeeke, Tanja H.; Zysset, Annina; Messerli‐Bürgy, Nadine; Stülb, Kerstin; Arhab, Amar; Meyer, Andrea; Munsch, Simone; Puder, Jardena J.; Jenni, Oskar G.; Kriemler, Susi

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.00039

Cited by 34 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Given the importance of physical fitness and motor competence in the promotion of an active and healthy lifestyle (Ortega et al, 2008 ; Mintjens et al, 2018 ; Britton et al, 2020 ), schools and particularly PE should be considered a viable setting for the development of motor competence and physical fitness as most children can be reached independent of their socio-economic background. Even though the benefits of PA on various health-related outcomes have been well-documented (U.S. Department of Health Human Services, 2018 ), simply ensuring high movement time is not sufficient to promote motor competence and physical fitness; rather deliberate practice with quality movement experiences and feedback is required (Robinson and Goodway, 2009 ; Barnett et al, 2016 ; Payne and Isaacs, 2017 ; Schmutz et al, 2020 ). Adequate information on current abilities, therefore, is necessary in order to provide movement experiences that enhance motor competence and physical fitness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Upper Austrian Elementary School Children—Study Protocol and Preliminary Findings of a State-Wide Fitness Testing Program

Drenowatz

Hinterkörner

Greier

2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Motor competence and physical fitness are key components for the promotion of an active and healthy lifestyle. Poor motor competence and low physical fitness in children, therefore, are a major threat to future public health. Even though the assessment of physical fitness and motor competence per se does not enhance these entities, fitness tests can provide important information for intervention strategies. Fitness tests may also motivate children to become more active in order to increase their physical abilities. In the school-year 2016/17 the Upper Austrian government initiated the state-wide testing program “wie fit bist du” (how fit are you) in elementary schools, that examined cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular power, speed, agility, flexibility and object control skills along with the assessment of height and weight. Since the beginning of the program more than 18,000 children between 6 and 11 years of age participated in the school-based tests. The results show a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity with increasing age (p > 0.01). Overweight/obese children displayed lower motor competence and physical fitness, except for upper body strength. Further, the improvement in test performance with increasing age was less pronounced in overweight/obese children compared to their normal weight peers. In fact, distance covered during the 6-min run did not improve throughout the elementary school years in overweight/obese children. Given the importance of motor competence and physical fitness for general development and well-being, physical education should be considered a viable setting for the promotion of these entities as a majority of children can be reached independent of their socio-economic background. In order to provide adequate movement experiences that enhance motor competence and physical fitness while ensuring a motivating environment, objective information on current ability levels are required. The implementation of fitness monitoring at young ages, therefore, can be an important contributor for the promotion of an active and healthy lifestyle.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Upper Austrian Elementary School Children—Study Protocol and Preliminary Findings of a State-Wide Fitness Testing Program

Drenowatz

Hinterkörner

Greier

2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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“…Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were obese or overweight in 2016 (World Health Organization, 2016). Research on the underlying motivational processes that account for varying levels of younger children's physical activity is thus of considerable importance for health enhancement and the promotion of children's physical performance, especially in early childhood when children's physical abilities increasingly develop (Lakes et al, 2020;Schmutz et al, 2020). For this reason, the present study aimed to examine the possible determinants of younger children's physical performance at the early start of their development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children's Physical Self-Concept, Motivation, and Physical Performance: Does Physical Self-Concept or Motivation Play a Mediating Role?

et al. 2021

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The present study aimed to examine the relations between physical self-concept, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as physical performance of 1,082 children aged 7–8 years. The central objective of this study was to contrast a mediation model assuming physical self-concept as a mediator of the relations between both types of motivation and physical performance to a mediation model assuming both types of motivation as mediators of the relations between physical self-concept and physical performance. Physical self-concept and both types of motivation were measured by using self-reported questionnaires, while physical performance was measured with 10 motor skill tests. All tests were carried out during regular school hours (8–12 A.M.) by qualified test personnel. Beyond correlation analyses, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to find evidence for the predictive relations between the variables under study. Results showed that physical self-concept was significantly positively related to both types of motivation and physical performance (all p < 0.001). In contrast, results of SEM revealed that only physical self-concept (p < 0.001) and intrinsic motivation (p < 0.05) were significantly positively linked to physical performance. Furthermore, physical self-concept proved to significantly mediate the relations of both types of motivation to physical performance (p < 0.001), while only intrinsic motivation, but not extrinsic motivation, proved to significantly mediate the relation between physical self-concept and physical performance (p < 0.05). These results suggest that school-based or extracurricular interventions targeted at improving younger children's physical performance only by means of an increased level of physical activity or by external factors without supporting children's physical self-concept and intrinsic motivation may have less or no effects on their physical performance.

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“…Balance is considered an important component of motor competence [ 44 ], and impaired balance has been associated with increased incidence of injuries [ 45 , 46 ]. Our results fulfill some gaps in literature about the longitudinal associations between static balance and body composition in children, proposing that better static balance at 6.6 yr predicts lower BMI, FMI, FM%, FFMI and WHtR at 7.6 yr in both regression models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical fitness in preschool children in relation to later body composition at first grade in school

2021

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Background This study aimed to investigate whether better physical fitness in kindergarten predicts later healthier body composition in first grade at school. Methods Body composition was assessed by skinfold thickness measurements. Physical fitness tests included 20 m shuttle run test, handgrip strength test, standing long jump test, 4x10 m shuttle run test as part of PREFIT fitness test battery, and one-leg stance test from EUROFIT test battery. The participants of this study were 147 Estonian children (51% boys) aged 6–8 years, who were measured in the transition from kindergarten to school. Results After adjusting for maternal body mass index, educational attainment, child’s sex, age at the measurements, greater cardiovascular and motor fitness, relative lower body strength, static balance at 6.6 yr were associated with lower fat mass index, fat mass percentage at 12-month follow-up. The relative lower body strength above the median at 6.6 yr were related to lower fat mass index and fat mass percentage at 12-month follow-up, while the static balance test results demonstrated the opposite associations. Improvements in the 4x10 m shuttle run test results during the 12-month follow-up period were associated with the most beneficial changes in body composition status, such as increases in fat-free mass index and decreases in fat mass index, fat mass percentage, waist-to-height ratio after adjusting for maternal body mass index, educational attainment, child’s sex, age, at the measurements and baseline values of exposures. Conclusion Better physical fitness tests results at 6.6 yr in kindergarten generally predicted lower body fat parameters in children at 7.6 yr in first grade at school.

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Motor Competence and Physical Activity in Early Childhood: Stability and Relationship

Cited by 34 publications

References 42 publications

Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Upper Austrian Elementary School Children—Study Protocol and Preliminary Findings of a State-Wide Fitness Testing Program

Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Upper Austrian Elementary School Children—Study Protocol and Preliminary Findings of a State-Wide Fitness Testing Program

Children's Physical Self-Concept, Motivation, and Physical Performance: Does Physical Self-Concept or Motivation Play a Mediating Role?

Physical fitness in preschool children in relation to later body composition at first grade in school

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