In The Netherlands, the 4-Skills Scan is an instrument for physical education teachers to assess gross motor skills of elementary school children. Little is known about its reliability. Therefore, in this study the test–retest and inter-rater reliability was determined. Respectively, 624 and 557 Dutch 6- to 12-year-old children were analyzed for test re-test and inter-rater reliability. All tests took place within the school setting. The outcome measure was age-expected motor performance (in years). Results showed a small practice effect of .24 years for re-test sessions and assessment of motor skills was possible with acceptable precision (standard error of measurement = .67 years). Overall, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was .93 (95% confidence interval: .92–.95) for test–retest reliability and .97 for inter-rater reliability. For the repeated measures, the smallest detectable change (SDC) was 1.84 and limits of agreement were –1.60 and 2.08 years. It can be concluded that the 4-Skills Scan is a reliable instrument to assess gross motor skills in elementary school children.
The purpose of this literature study is to obtain information about educational approaches to teaching 11 to 12 years old children focusing on how to distinguish between real news and fake news. With this purpose we studied 16 academic papers about learning activities to make primary school children media-literate and able to recognise fake news. What we found is that having children create their own news messages seems to be the most effective approach. News messages that they create can be text messages as well as videos, audios, pictures and animations. Based on this conclusion, students from The Hague University of Applied Sciences Teacher Training Institute (PABO) have been asked to develop a set of learning materials that can be used for instruction in primary schools. The effectiveness of those materials is currently being tested at an elementary school in Rijswijk. The results of the literature and the field study will be shared in the Dutch centre of expertise for media literacy education, Mediawijzer.net.
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High consumption of carbohydrates is linked to metabolic syndrome, possibly via the endogenous formation of advanced glycated end-products. Many Dutch elementary school children have a carbohydrate intake of >130g/day, the estimated minimum requirement. In this observational study, 126 Dutch elementary school children (5-12y of age) from two schools differing in frequency of gym lessons (2 or 5 times a week) were included. In all participants, height, weight, waist circumference, autofluorescence of skin glycated end-products (AGE-score), sports activity and carbohydrate consumption were recorded once. Sports activities in leisure time differentiated participants in ‘sportsmen’ and ‘non-sportsmen’. Carbohydrate intake and AGE score were positively associated in non-sportsmen (p<0.003), but negatively in sportsmen (p<0.002). In sportsmen, but not in non-sportsmen (p>0.50), a positive association was found (p<0.002) between carbohydrate intake and subject age. The intake of total carbohydrate and carbohydrates from juices and soft drinks was lower (p<0.001) at the Wassenberg School relative to the Alexander School. Based on waist to height ratio, >95% of the children had normal fat mass. No correlations were found between waist to height ratio or BMI and carbohydrate intake. Waist to height ratio was positively associated with BMI (p<0.001)) and subject age (p<0.001). Of all principal parameters, AGE score is most affected by being sportsmen or not (p<0.001). This study indicates that an increased intake of carbohydrates can be counteracted by sufficient physical activity (>2.5 hours per week). This implies that skin autofluorescence is a fast and non-invasive method to screen children for life style.
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