Given the rapid development during the early years (0-4 years), an understanding of the health implications of physical activity is needed. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the ...relationships between objectively and subjectively measured physical activity and health indicators in the early years.
Electronic databases were originally searched in April, 2016. Included studies needed to be peer-reviewed, written in English or French, and meet a priori study criteria. The population was apparently healthy children aged 1 month to 59.99 months/4.99 years. The intervention/exposure was objectively and subjectively measured physical activity. The comparator was various volumes, durations, frequencies, patterns, types, and intensities of physical activity. The outcomes were health indicators ranked as critical (adiposity, motor development, psychosocial health, cognitive development, fitness) and important (bone and skeletal health, cardiometabolic health, and risks/harm). The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework was used to assess the quality of evidence for each health indicator by each study design.
Ninety-six studies representing 71,291 unique participants from 36 countries were included. Physical activity interventions were consistently (>60% of studies) associated with improved motor and cognitive development, and psychosocial and cardiometabolic health. Across observational studies, physical activity was consistently associated with favourable motor development, fitness, and bone and skeletal health. For intensity, light- and moderate-intensity physical activity were not consistently associated with any health indicators, whereas moderate- to vigorous-intensity, vigorous-intensity, and total physical activity were consistently favourably associated with multiple health indicators. Across study designs, consistent favourable associations with health indicators were observed for a variety of types of physical activity, including active play, aerobic, dance, prone position (infants; ≤1 year), and structured/organized. Apart from ≥30 min/day of the prone position for infants, the most favourable frequency and duration of physical activity was unclear. However, more physical activity appeared better for health. Evidence ranged from "very low" to "high" quality.
Specific types of physical activity, total physical activity, and physical activity of at least moderate- to vigorous-intensity were consistently favourably associated with multiple health indicators. The majority of evidence was in preschool-aged children (3-4 years). Findings will inform evidence-based guidelines.
•Much remains to be known about the developmental impact of early motor impairment.•We review current methods, designs and insights for neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.•Heterogeneity ...is recognized but not fully appreciated or exploited in research design.•Future research can leverage technology, advanced statistics, prospective monitoring and intervention trials.
Background. Motor development research has seen substantial recent growth. However, much remains to be understood about the nature and extent of motor impairments in neurodevelopmental disorders, including their potential as early markers and/or causal determinants of downstream functioning in other domains. Aims and Methods. In this narrative review, drawing primarily on the autism literature by way of example, we review current accounts of the nature and consequences of motor functioning. We consider conventional approaches to measurement and study design, and current limited approaches to tackling heterogeneity. Conclusions and Implications. We argue that ongoing adherence to traditional diagnostic outcome classification stands in the face of mounting evidence that characteristics of neurodevelopmental disorders lie on a continuum with variability in the general population, and that three broad research avenues stand to offer a better understanding of motor functioning: The use of technology and advanced statistical methods for a more nuanced understanding of motor abilities; exploiting the prospective longitudinal tracking of at-risk infants to understand developmental consequences of early motor difference; and employing randomized controlled trials to test the utility of motor therapies whilst also testing causal hypotheses about the role of motor functioning.
•Females had higher fine motor scores compared to males.•Males had higher scores for intensity of manipulation compared to females.•Parents reported other adults promoted gender differences in active ...play.•Parents of males more often affirmed males’ gross motor skills during play.•Parents of female infants more often affirmed females’ fine motor skills during play.
This study explored how parents’ promotion of play may impact gender differences in motor development of six-nine month old infants. Twenty-nine infants between six-nine months of age and their primary caregivers took part in assessments of anthropometry, motor development, video observations of play and a qualitative interview. Results revealed females had significantly higher scores for fine motor skills and significantly higher incidence of touching toys in an individual play scenario compared to males. Males had a higher intensity level of play during both play scenarios. Qualitative explorations found that parents perceived other adults such as surrounding family and friends to promote gender differences but not themselves; however, parents’ verbal interactions with infants did appear to differ by gender. Parents of males more frequently made statements to promote gross motor skills while parents of females more frequently made statements to promote fine motor skills. While biological influences are suggested to play a role on gender differences of motor development early in life, environmental explanations related to socialization, gender-differentiated expectations and experiences amplify these differences to a greater degree than may have been previously considered during this time period.
Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the leading heritable cause of intellectual disability, has a co-occurrence rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) estimated at ~60%. Children with FXS experience delayed ...achievement and slower development of key motor abilities, which happens to an even greater extent for children with both FXS and ASD. A multitude of studies have demonstrated that motor abilities are foundational skills related to later communication outcomes in neurotypical development, as well as in the context of ASD. However, these associations remain unexamined in FXS, or FXS + ASD. In this study, we aimed to determine the associations between early motor skills and their rate of development on communication outcomes in FXS. Furthermore, we investigated whether these associations varied in the context of co-occurring FXS + ASD. Results revealed within-FXS variation in the context of co-occurring ASD between some aspects of motor development and communication outcomes, yet within-FXS consistency between others. Findings provide evidence for variability in developmental processes and outcomes in FXS in the context of co-occurring ASD and offer implications for intervention.
The availability of stimulating materials in the home environment is of great importance to optimizing an infant's development. This study, which has a cross-sectional study design, was conducted to ...examine the relationship between home environment conditions and equipment support and the motor development and sensory processing skills of premature infants. Children born premature, aged 10–16 months, were included in the study. Motor development was evaluated with the Peabody Motor Development Scale-2, and sensory processing skills were evaluated with the Test of Sensory Function in Infants. The Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Infant Scale was used to evaluate the home environment. A total of 51 premature infants were included in the study. It was determined that there was a significant relationship between physical space, stimulus variety and fine motor toys in the home environment and Peabody Motor Development Scale-2 gross motor and fine motor development scores. It was also shown that there was a relationship between the tactile and total scores of the Test of Sensory Function in Infants Scale and the variety of stimuli in the home environment and gross motor toy scores. These findings show that the opportunities provided in the home environment of premature infants may be related to their motor development and sensory processing skills. Consequently, the home environment may be associated with experiencing movements and sensory experiences.
•There is a positive relationship between opportunities at home and motor development and sensory processing skills.•Arranging the home environment and creating suitable conditions in the early period can be beneficial for development.•The physical conditions of the home environment and the variety of toys provide sensory and motor experiences to infants.
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology convened representatives of national organizations, research experts, methodologists, stakeholders, and end-users who followed rigorous and transparent ...guideline development procedures to create the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years): An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep. These novel guidelines for children of the early years embrace the natural and intuitive integration of movement behaviours across the whole day (24-h period).
The development process was guided by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument. Four systematic reviews (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, combined behaviours) examining the relationships within and among movement behaviours and several health indicators were completed and interpreted by a Guideline Development Panel. The systematic reviews that were conducted to inform the development of the guidelines, and the framework that was applied to develop the recommendations, followed the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. Complementary compositional analyses were performed using data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey to examine the relationships between movement behaviours and indicators of adiposity. A review of the evidence on the cost effectiveness and resource use associated with the implementation of the proposed guidelines was also undertaken. A stakeholder survey (n = 546), 10 key informant interviews, and 14 focus groups (n = 92 participants) were completed to gather feedback on draft guidelines and their dissemination.
The guidelines provide evidence-informed recommendations as to the combinations of light-, moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and sleep that infants (<1 year), toddlers (1-2 years) and preschoolers (3-4 years) should achieve for a healthy day (24 h). Proactive dissemination, promotion, implementation, and evaluation plans were prepared to optimize uptake and activation of the new guidelines.
These guidelines represent a sensible evolution of public health guidelines whereby optimal health is framed within the balance of movement behaviours across the whole day, while respecting preferences of end-users. Future research should consider the integrated relationships among movement behaviours, and similar integrated guidelines for other age groups should be developed.
Embodied and Embedded Learning: Child, Caregiver, and Context Tamis-LeMonda, Catherine S.; Masek, Lillian R.
Current directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society,
10/2023, Letnik:
32, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The pace of infant learning is inspiring. Babies learn new skills while interacting with the people, objects, and spaces in their everyday environments. Grounded in a developmental-systems approach, ...we highlight the embodied and embedded nature of infant learning. Learning is embodied in that the exuberant infant serendipitously creates an ideal curriculum for learning through immense amounts of varied, time-distributed practice across behavioral domains. Learning is embedded in that infants’ behaviors elicit timely responses from caregivers that are situated in richly informative and structured environments. Feedback loops generated by the active infant, the salience of caregiver responses, and the regularity of environmental contexts propel learning. The study of natural behaviors in natural environments spotlights the roles of infant, caregiver, and context in everyday learning.
The aim of this study was to determine whether information obtained from measures of motor performance taken from birth to 4 years of age predicted motor and cognitive performance of children once ...they reached school age. Participants included 33 children aged from 6 years to 11 years and 6 months who had been assessed at ages 4 months to 4 years using the ages and stages questionnaires (ASQ: Squires, J. K., Potter, L., & Bricker, D. (1995). The ages and stages questionnaire users guide. Baltimore: Brookes). These scores were used to obtain trajectory information consisting of the age of asymptote, maximum or minimum score, and the variance of ASQ scores. At school age, both motor and cognitive ability were assessed using the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND: McCarron, L. (1997). McCarron assessment of neuromuscular development: Fine and gross motor abilities (revised ed.). Dallas, TX: Common Market Press.), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Version IV (WISC-IV: Wechsler, D. (2004). WISC-IV integrated technical and interpretive manual. San Antonio, Texas: Harcourt Assessment). In contrast to previous research, results demonstrated that, although socio-economic status (SES) predicted fine motor performance and three of four cognitive domains at school age, gestational age was not a significant predictor of later development. This may have been due to the low-risk nature of the sample. After controlling for SES, fine motor trajectory information did not account for a significant proportion of the variance in school aged fine motor performance or cognitive performance. The ASQ gross motor trajectory set of predictors accounted for a significant proportion of the variance for cognitive performance once SES was controlled for. Further analysis showed a significant predictive relationship for gross motor trajectory information and the subtests of working memory and processing speed. These results provide evidence for detecting children at risk of developmental delays or disorders with a parent report questionnaire prior to school age. The findings also add to recent investigations into the relationship between early motor development and later cognitive function, and support the need for ongoing research into a potential etiological relationship.
Hyperbilirubinemia is a clinical picture frequently occurring in the neonatal period and may negatively affect the development of infants.
To evaluate term infants with hyperbilirubinemia in terms of ...both motor development and sensory processing skills and to compare them with their healthy peers without hyperbilirubinemia.
A cross-sectional study.
Children born at term, aged 10–18 months, with and without a history of hyperbilirubinemia were included in the study.
After demographic information was recorded, motor development was evaluated with the Peabody Motor Development Scale-2 and sensory processing skills were evaluated with the Test of Sensory Function in Infant.
A total of 42 children (mean ± SD age of the children 13.07 ± 1.47 months, 22 with hyperbilirubinemia and 20 without hyperbilirubinemia) were included in the study. A statistically significant difference was found in the gross motor (p = 0.02), fine motor (p = 0.03), and total motor (p = 0.017) development scores of the Peabody Motor Development Scale-2 and in the adaptive motor functions (p = 0.004), visual tactile integration (p < 0.001), and total scores (p = 0.004) of The Test of Sensory Function in Infant in favor of the control group.
The motor and sensory processing skills of children born at term with hyperbilirubinemia may be negatively affected. Infants with hyperbilirubinemia should be evaluated from the early period not only in terms of motor but also sensory processing skills and should be supported with appropriate intervention programs.
•Hyperbilirubinemia is a common clinical condition in newborn infants.•Hyperbilirubinemia can adversely affect the development of infants.•Motor development and sensory processing skills of infants with hyperbilirubinemia were negatively affected.•Children with a history of hyperbilirubinemia should also be evaluated in terms of sensory processing skills.
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