The development of childhood motor competence demonstrates a high degree of inter-individual variation. Some children's competence levels increase whilst others' competence levels remain unchanged or ...even decrease over time. However, few studies have examined this developmental change in motor competence across childhood and little is known on influencing factors.
Using latent growth curve modeling (LGCM), the present longitudinal study aimed to investigate children's change in motor competence across a 2-year timespan and to examine the potential influence of baseline weight status and physical fitness on their trajectory of change in motor competence.
558 children (52.5% boys) aged between 6 and 9 years participated in this study. Baseline measurements included weight status, motor competence (i.e., Körperkoördinationstest für Kinder; KTK) and physical fitness (i.e., sit and reach, standing long jump and the 20 m shuttle run test). Motor competence assessment took place three times across a 2-year timespan. LGCM was conducted to examine change in motor competence over time.
The analyses showed a positive linear change in motor competence across 2 years (β = 28.48,
< 0.001) with significant variability in children's individual trajectories (
< 0.001). Girls made less progress than boys (β = -2.12,
= 0.01). Children who were older at baseline demonstrated less change in motor competence (β = -0.33,
< 0.001). Weight status at baseline was negatively associated with change in motor competence over time (β = -1.418,
= 0.002). None of the physical fitness components, measured at baseline, were significantly associated with change in motor competence over time.
This longitudinal study reveals that weight status significantly influences children's motor competence trajectories whilst physical fitness demonstrated no significant influence on motor competence trajectories. Future studies should further explore children's differential trajectories over time and potential factors influencing that change.
Aim
This study aimed to understand the fundamental motor skills (FMS) of Belgian children using the process‐oriented Test of Gross Motor Development, Second Edition (TGMD‐2) and to investigate the ...suitability of using the United States (USA) test norms in Belgium.
Methods
FMS were assessed using the TGMD‐2. Gender, age and motor performance were examined in 1614 Belgian children aged 3–8 years (52.1% boys) and compared with the US reference sample.
Results
More proficient FMS performance was found with increasing age, from 3 to 6 years for locomotor skills and 3 to 7 years for object control skills. Gender differences were observed in object control skills, with boys performing better than girls. In general, Belgian children had lower levels of motor competence than the US reference sample, specifically for object control skills. The score distribution of the Belgian sample was skewed, with 37.4% scoring below average and only 6.9% scoring above average.
Conclusion
This study supported the usefulness of the TGMD‐2 as a process‐oriented instrument to measure gross motor development in early childhood in Belgium. However, it also demonstrated that caution is warranted when using the US reference norms.
There is a need for interdisciplinary research to better understand how pedagogical approaches in primary physical education (PE) can support the linked development of physical, cognitive and ...affective aspects of physical literacy and physical activity behaviors in young children living in deprived areas. The
study aims to examine the efficacy of two different pedagogies for PE, underpinned by theories of motor learning, to foster physical literacy.
SAMPLE-PE will be evaluated through a cluster-randomized controlled trial targeting 5-6 year old children from schools located in areas of high deprivation in Merseyside, North-West England. Schools will be randomly allocated to one of three conditions:
,
, or Control. Non-linear and Linear Pedagogy intervention primary schools will receive a PE curriculum delivered by trained coaches over 15 weeks, while control schools will follow their usual practice. Data will be collected at baseline (T0), immediately post-intervention (T1), and 6 months after the intervention has finished (T2). Children's movement competence is the primary outcome in this trial. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, perceived competence, motivation, executive functions, and self-regulation. An extensive process evaluation will also examine implementation factors such as intervention context, reach, dose, fidelity and acceptability.
The SAMPLE-PE project will enable better understanding surrounding how to operationalise physical literacy through enrichment of PE practices in early PE. The study will provide robust scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of underpinning PE pedagogy with theories of motor learning to promote the development of physical literacy.
Retrospectively registered on 5th September 2018 at ClinicalTrials.gov, a resource provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (Identifier: NCT03551366).
Is the assessment of motor milestones valid and scaled equivalently for all infants? It is not only important to understand if the way we use gross and fine motor scores are appropriate for ...monitoring motor milestones but also to determine if these scores are confounded by specific infant characteristics. Therefore, the aim of the study is to investigate the latent structure underlying motor milestone assessment in infancy and measurement invariance across sex, birth weight, and gestational age. For this study, the birth cohort data from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) was used, which includes the assessment of eight motor milestone tasks from the Denver Developmental Screening Test in 9-month-old infants (
= 18,531), depicting early motor development of the first children of generation Z. Confirmatory factor analyses showed a better model fit for a two-factor structure (i.e., gross and fine motor development) compared to a one-factor structure (i.e., general motor development), and multiple indicators multiple causes modeling revealed no differential item functioning related to sex, birth weight, and gestational age. The study provides support for the use of gross and fine motor scores when assessing motor milestones in infants-both boys and girls with different birth weights and of varying gestational ages. Further investigation into widely adopted assessment tools is recommended to support the use of valid composite scores in early childhood research and practice.
The 2021 Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card aimed to identify secular trends and socio-economic inequalities, and to assess the physical activity and health of children and youth prior to ...COVID-19.
An expert panel searched for data published in 2018–2020. Grades were assigned to nationally representative data using the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance methodology.
The expert panel, following national consultation, awarded the following grades: Community/Environment B-, Organized Sport and Physical Activity B-, Government/Policy C-/C+, Active Transportation C-, Family/Peers D-, Recreational Screen Time F. Five indicators were graded inconclusive (INC): Overall Physical Activity; Active Play; Physical Fitness; Diet; Obesity. Grades have remained stable or declined, and surveillance has reduced, increasing the number of INC grades. There were marked socio-economic inequalities for eight indicators (Recreational Screen Time; Overall Physical Activity; Organized Sport & Physical Activity; Active Transportation; Diet; Obesity; Family/Peers; Community/Environment).
Despite a decade of favorable policy, physical activity and health of children and youth has not improved, and marked socio-economic inequalities continue to persist in Scotland. There is a clear need for greater monitoring of physical activity and health, and improved policy implementation and evaluation, particularly as many indicators and related inequalities may have worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Motor competence and physical fitness are important factors for promoting positive trajectories of health over time. In 2008, Stodden and colleagues developed a model that discussed the role of both ...factors in physical activity. Furthermore, the authors hypothesized that the relationship between motor competence and physical fitness is reciprocal and changes over time.
The aim of the present meta-analysis was to synthesize the evidence on the relationship between motor competence and components of physical fitness from early childhood to early adulthood and the potential influence of age.
Scientific databases Web of Science and PubMed were used for the literature search. German- as well as English-language studies were included that assessed typically developing children. In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, 93 studies between 2005 and June 2018 were screened in full. Nineteen studies comprising of 32 samples, 87 single data points from 15,984 participants aged 4.5-20.4 years (M
= 11.44, SD = 4.77) were included in the analysis.
A random effects model was conducted for the meta-regression with age as moderator variable. The relationship between motor competence and physical fitness was moderate to large (r = 0.43, p < 0.001) after controlling for multiple effects, including dependent samples and small sample sizes in the quantitative synthesis. Additionally, age was a small significant positive moderator of the effect size.
The findings provide support for a moderate to large positive relationship between motor competence and physical fitness that strengthens with increasing age. However, the results also indicate that there may be an overlap in content between motor competence and physical fitness assessments, which warrants further investigation. More research is also needed to assess similarities and differences in terms of the construct structures.
This study aimed (1) to identify profiles in children based on actual motor competence (AMC), perceived motor competence (PMC), and organized sports participation (OSP), and (2) to examine ...differences among these profiles in weight status as well as autonomous motivation towards sports. Children's (
= 206; 112 boys; M
= 10.83 ± 0.92 years) AMC, PMC, OSP, weight status, and autonomous motivation towards sports were measured using validated assessment tools. Cluster analyses identified three profiles with completely convergent levels of AMC, PMC, and OSP and three profiles with partially convergent levels. Children in the convergent profiles with average to high levels of AMC, PMC, and OSP had the most optimal profile, as they combined a healthier weight status with elevated levels of autonomous motivation, while the opposite was true for children with low levels on all three cluster-variables. Partially convergent profiles showed that AMC and PMC appear crucial for weight status, as profiles with relatively low levels of AMC and PMC had the highest weight status, independent of their OSP levels. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of promoting AMC, PMC, and OSP simultaneously to help children in achieving a healthy weight status and being autonomously motivated towards OSP.
Learning to cycle is an important milestone for children, but the popularity of cycling and the environmental factors that promote the development and practice of this foundational movement skill ...vary among cultures and across time. This present study aimed to investigate if country of residence and the generation in which a person was born influence the age at which people learn to cycle.
Data were collected through an online survey between November 2019 and December 2020. For this study, a total of 9,589 responses were obtained for adults (self-report) and children (parental report) living in 10 countries (Portugal, Italy, Brazil, Finland, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom, Mexico, Croatia, and the Netherlands). Participants were grouped according to their year of birth with 20-year periods approximately corresponding to 3 generations: 1960-79 (generation X;
= 2,214); 1980-99 (generation Y;
= 3,994); 2000-2019 (generation Z;
= 3,381).
A two-way ANOVA showed a significant effect of country,
= 90.17,
< 0.001,
= 0.086, and generation,
= 47.21,
< 0.001,
= 0.122, on the age at which individuals learn to cycle. Countries with the lowest learning age were the Netherlands, Finland and Belgium and countries with the highest learning age were Brazil and Mexico. Furthermore, the age at which one learns to cycle has decreased across generations. There was also a significant country x generation interaction effect on learning age,
= 2.90,
< 0.001; however, this effect was negligible (
= 0.006).
These findings support the socio-ecological perspective that learning to cycle is a process affected by both proximal and distal influences, including individual, environment and time.
High levels of childhood obesity have been observed globally over the last three decades. Preschools are promising settings to implement obesity prevention interventions in the early years. The aim ...of this study was to test the feasibility of a cluster randomised controlled trial of the ToyBox-Scotland preschool obesity prevention intervention.
Six preschools in predominantly deprived areas of Glasgow, UK, were randomised to either the ToyBox intervention (
= 3) or usual curriculum control group (
= 3). The intervention ran for 18 weeks from March-June 2018, and consisted of practitioner-led physical activity and sedentary behaviour sessions in preschools, with an additional interactive home component. Primary outcome measures were intervention fidelity, recruitment rates, attrition rates, and compliance with trial procedures. Secondary outcomes were body mass index (BMI)
-score, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time via activPAL accelerometer, and parent-reported home eating, snacking, and water consumption.
The preschool component of the intervention was implemented with high fidelity (64%), while the home component was implemented with low fidelity (41%). A cluster-level recruitment rate of 10% was achieved, and the individual-level recruitment rate was 18% (42/233 children, mean age 4.4 years; 17 girls). The attrition rate was 14%, and compliance rates varied considerably by the outcome. Compliance was highest for BMI (86%), while 19% of the sample returned valid accelerometer data for both baseline and follow-up and the parental questionnaire response rate was 23%. Both intervention and control groups showed small increases in BMI
-scores at follow-up of 0.02 and 0.06, respectively. Both groups had small decreases in physical activity and increases in sedentary time at follow-up.
Before progression to an effectiveness trial, additional procedures should be considered to improve recruitment rates, compliance with outcome measures, and implementation of the home-based component of the ToyBox-Scotland intervention.
ISRCTN12831555.
Purpose
Motor assessments generally produce a single motor competence score based on the general motor ability hypothesis, which states that motor competence is a one‐dimensional trait underlying a ...wide range of motor skills. Yet, it is unclear whether the general motor ability hypothesis holds true in middle childhood, which is marked by an increased participation in sports and other types of physical activity. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the structure of motor competence in middle childhood using a test battery with a large item set.
Method
A cross‐sectional design was used to collect motor competence data of 2538 children aged 6‐11 years. Participants completed the Bruininks‐Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency—2nd Edition Short Form (BOT‐2 SF), which consists of 14 skill items and covers different motor domains. In accordance with the BOT‐2 SF manual, point scores were computed for each item. Polytomous Rasch analyses (ie, general partial credit model) were carried out to investigate the construct of motor competence.
Results
Rasch analyses revealed different items with unordered threshold parameters, due to ceiling effects. However, after empirically rescaling the category width for each item, follow‐up analyses revealed a one‐dimensional structure with 12 items.
Conclusion
The study provides some evidence of a one‐dimensional construct (ie, motor competence) underlying motor assessment in middle childhood. Continued efforts should be made to ensure that valid composite scores are used in motor assessment and to better understand the development of motor competence across childhood and into adolescence and adulthood.
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