Background: Poor motor skill competence may influence energy balance with childhood overweight as a result. Our aim was to investigate whether the age of motor milestone achievement has changed over the past decades and whether this change may contribute to the increasing trend observed in childhood overweight. Methods: Motor skill competence was assessed in children from the Young Netherlands Twin Register born between 1987 and 2007. Follow-up ranged from 4 up to 10 years. Weight and height were assessed at birth, 6 months, 14 months, and 2, 4, 7, and 10 years. Results: Babies born in later cohorts achieved their motor milestones ‘crawling’, ‘standing’, and ‘walkingunassisted’ later compared to babies born in earlier cohorts (N = 18,514, p <0.001). The prevalence of overweight at age 10 was higher in later cohorts (p = 0.033). The increase in overweight at age 10 was not explained by achieving motor milestones at a later age and this persisted after adjusting for gestational age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Comparing children born in 1987 to those born in 2007, we conclude that children nowadays achieve their motor milestones at a later age. This does not however, explain the increasing trend in childhood overweight.
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Kinderen zijn beduidend zwaarder en minder actief dan vroeger. Docenten Lichamelijke Opvoeding (LO) zouden een belangrijke rol kunnen spelen in het ombuigen van deze trends, onder andere door zich meer te richten op de motorische vaardigheid van kinderen, een belangrijke voorspeller van een meer actieve leefstijl op latere leeftijd. Uit de Nulmeting Bewegingsonderwijs (Reijgersberg et al., 2013) komt naar voren dat niet duidelijk is in hoeverre docenten LO bijdragen aan de motorische vaardigheid van kinderen. Om hier meer inzicht in te krijgen is behoefte aan een valide, betrouwbaar en praktisch toepasbaar meetinstrument. In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op het meten van de motorische vaardigheid binnen de context van de lichamelijke opvoeding met een nieuw meetinstrument: het Athletic Skills (AS)-beweegparcours.
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This dissertation describes the dynamics of motor competence (MC) development from early childhood (EC) to middle childhood (MCD). Being motor competent in early childhood creates a window of opportunity for taking part in physical activities later in childhood and adulthood. However, there is a worrying trend in MC development during childhood. This trend shows that, last decades, children struggle more with executing fundamental movement skills (e.g., hopping, dribbling, balancing, throwing and catching) and that general motor fitness levels of children are decreasing. A delay in MC development during childhood has a negative impact on the general health status later in life. Therefore, it is important to support young children to develop their MC. The main research question of this dissertation was: How can motor competence be promoted as efficient and effective as possible in early childhood by sport professionals? Chapter 2 showed that MC development from early to middle childhood proceeds with variation. The majority of the children had a stable ‘normal’ or increasing ‘high’ development of MC over time. However, a concerning level of 18.2% of the young children showed an undesirable pattern (i.e., a negative course of motor development over time and a ‘low’ MQ score during the final measurement) of MC development as they grow older. Chapters 3 and 4 showed that characteristics of the social and physical home environment and direct living environment were associated with MC disparities during early childhood. Both parenting practices and parental PA-involved behaviours were relevant modifiable factors. For example, stronger parental active transportation routines and PA parental practices decreased the odds of a lower MC. Also, the presence of a home garden decreased the likelihood of children being classified as low motor competent. With regard to gender differences, girls showed lower levels of MC compared to boys. Special attention should also be paid to obese children as they experience less enjoyment of PA compared with normal weighted peers (chapter 3). Excessive body weight is also a risk factor associated with an undesirable MC development, just like lack of sports participation (chapter 5). Intervention strategies (chapter 6) incorporating all fundamental movement skills with a great variety of activities for at least 3 to 4 times a week seem to be most effective to stimulate MC development. Methodological and didactical aspects like deliberate practice and play should be implemented together with training and coaching sessions for sport professionals to increase the effectiveness of the interventions. With respect to the efficiency of promoting MC development, policy makers and sport professionals should pay more attention on early childhood and especially focus on those children at risk for a delay in MC development. So, overweighted children and children not participating in organized sports should be given more attention by sport professionals. Additionally, the effectiveness of MC interventions can be increased by making use of the home environment, childcare context and school context of young children. Sport professionals can act as connectors between parents, school, and sports clubs.
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