Perceptual & Motor Skills: Physical Development & Measurement 2013, 117, 2, 627-646. © Perceptual & Motor Skills 2013

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUNDAMENTAL MOTOR SKILLS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN 4-YEAR-OLD PRESCHOOL CHILDREN1, 2, 3 K. S. IIVONEN AND A. K. SÄÄKSLAHTI Department of Sport Sciences University of Jyväskylä A. MEHTÄLÄ AND J. J. VILLBERG Department of Health Sciences University of Jyväskylä T. H. TAMMELIN AND J. S. KULMALA LIKES – Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences M. POSKIPARTA Department of Health Sciences University of Jyväskylä Summary.—This study evaluated the relationships between objectively measured physical activity and fundamental motor skills in 4-year-old children. Physical activity was monitored in 20 girls and 17 boys over 5 consecutive days (3 days at preschool and 2 days at home) and their fundamental motor skills measured. Multiple linear regressions controlled for sex, age, and body mass index indicated that the total skill score was significantly associated with physical activity, explaining 13%, 16%, and 16% of the variance in total, moderate-to-vigorous, and lightto-vigorous physical activity, respectively. Sliding and galloping were significantly associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and throwing and catching combination was significantly associated with total, moderate-to-vigorous, and light-to-vigorous physical activity. The findings warrant future investigations with larger samples to examine the relationship between locomotor, manipulative skills, and physical activity behaviors.

The increase in the prevalence of preschool-aged children who are overweight and obese (de Onis, Blössner, & Borghi, 2010) has led to investigation of the correlates of health, including physical activity and fundamental motor skills, in this age group (Lubans, Morgan, Cliff, Barnett, Address correspondence to Susanna Iivonen, Department of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35 (L), FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland or e-mail ([email protected]). 2 This study was funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Eemil Aaltonen Foundation. 3 We wish to thank the preschools and the children and their parents for their participation, the research assistants of the Department of Health Sciences for their help with the data collection, and the researchers of the LIKES Research Center for their help with the data reduction. 1

DOI 10.2466/10.06.PMS.117x22z7

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& Okely, 2010; Timmons, LeBlanc, Carson, Gorber, Dillman, Janssen, et al., 2012). Physical activity guidelines, including recommendations for the daily practice of motor skills, are available for preschoolers (ages 3–6 years). The widely recognized Canadian and U.S. guidelines differ somewhat, for example, in the minimal amount of physical activity that children should accumulate per day (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2009; Active Healthy Kids Canada, 2012). The Canadian recommendation is 180 minutes, whereas the U.S. recommendation is 120 minutes (Active Healthy Kids Canada, 2012; National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2009). The Finnish guidelines closely resemble the U.S. recommendation (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2005). The existence of such multiple recommendations indicates that the optimal amount of physical activity for preschool-aged children remains unclear. This in turn indicates that there is a need to investigate physical activity and its correlates in this age group. Whatever the recommendations, previous research among preschool children has reported low physical activity (Jackson, Reilly, Kelly, Montgomery, Grant, & Paton, 2003; Reilly, Jackson, Montgomery, Kelly, Slater, Grant, et al., 2004; Cardon & De Bourdeaudhuij, 2008; Soini, Kettunen, Mehtälä, Sääkslahti, Tammelin, Villberg, et al., 2012). Further, a previous study reported a mean sedentary time of approximately 10 hr. per day among 4-yr.-old children in preschool (van Cauwenberghe, Labarque, Trost, De Bourdeauhuij, & Cardon, 2011). Although the reasons for low physical activity are not well understood, studies have suggested that higher physical activity is related to the development of better motor skills (Sääkslahti, Numminen, Niinikoski, Rask-Nissilä, Viikari, Tuominen, et al., 1999; Williams, Pfeiffer, O'Neill, Dowda, McIver, Brown, et al., 2008; Cliff, Okely, Smith, & McKeen, 2009). Fundamental motor skills, typically classified into the domains of balance (e.g., one foot standing), locomotor (e.g., running and jumping), and manipulative (e.g., throwing and catching) skills, play an important role in children's physical, cognitive, and social development (Gallahue & Cleland-Donnelly, 2003; Gallahue, Ozmun, & Goodway, 2011). Furthermore, there is evidence that childhood fundamental motor skills relate to academic and health outcomes in later life, children with greater competency being more likely to adjust to normal schooling (Bart, Hajami, & Bar-Haim, 2007) and more likely to have higher cardio-respiratory fitness as adolescents (Barnett, van Beurden, Morgan, Brooks, & Beard, 2008). The preschool years are a critical period of life for the adoption of physically active behaviors and the building of a sufficiently diverse motor skills repertoire for future adaptation to a healthy lifestyle (Stodden, Goodway, Langendorfer, Roberton, Rudisill, Garcia, et al., 2008). These early years are characterized by rapid physiological changes

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(Malina, Bouchard, & Bar-Or, 2004) that, together with environmental factors, influence children's behavior, including physical activity (Hinkley, Crawford, Salmon, Okely, & Hesketh, 2008; Carson, Spence, Cutumisu, Boule, Edwards, 2010; Trost, Ward, & Senso, 2010) and motor skills (Barnett, Hinkley, Okely, & Salmon, 2013). It has been suggested that children are developmentally capable of mastering most fundamental motor skills by the age of six years (Gallahue, et al., 2011). Educational environments play an important role in the motives for children's behaviors, as the majority of children ages 3 to 6 years spend most of their weekday waking hours at preschool (Iruka & Carver, 2006; Reilly, 2010). In terms of targeting the most effective strategies to support children's adoption of a physically active lifestyle, research is needed on how fundamental motor skills relate to physical activity in preschool children. The evidence on the relationship between motor skills and physical activity among preschoolers is conflicting. This is partly due to differences in the age groups studied and methodologies applied, and partly to the limited progress made in solving the problem of the role of mediating variables between physical activity and motor skills. Comparison of results is difficult because of the different methods used to measure physical activity (parental report vs. objective measurement). When objective measures like an accelerometer have been used, the cut-off points chosen to quantify physical activity have varied (Reilly, 2010). A similar problem exists with fundamental motor skills measurements, where some studies have used test batteries that assess skill outcome (product-oriented) (Sääkslahti, et al., 1999; Fisher, Reilly, Kelly, Montgomery, Williamson, Paton, & Grant, 2005; Venetsanou & Kambas, 2011) and others batteries that assess skill technique (process-oriented) (Williams, et al., 2008; Cliff, et al., 2009). Of the five studies that have included 4-yr.-old children (Sääkslahti, et al., 1999; Fisher, et. al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2008; Cliff, et al., 2009; Goodway, Stodden, Ferkel, & Mowad, 2010), two studies (Fisher, et al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2008) reported that locomotor and manipulative skills were weakly associated with total physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Two studies (Cliff, et al., 2009; Goodway, et al., 2010) reported that manipulative skills were associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in boys. One study (Sääkslahti, et al., 1999) reported that locomotor skills were associated with several different types of physical activities in boys, and successful performance of motor skills was associated with one of the measured activity types in girls. In addition, one study (Goodway, et al., 2010) reported that locomotor skills were associated with moderateto-vigorous physical activity in both sexes. Three of these studies used an objective measurement of physical activity and a process-oriented assessment of motor skills, and included both locomotor and manipulative skills

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(Williams, et al., 2008; Cliff, et al., 2009; Goodway, et al., 2010). One study used an objective measurement of physical activity and a product-oriented motor skill test battery, and produced a composite motor skill score (Fisher, et al., 2005). Another study included balance, locomotor, and manipulative skills, but did not use an objective measure of physical activity (Sääkslahti, et al., 1999). The present study was an attempt to overcome the limitations of the previous research by examining the relationship between objectively measured physical activity and the outcomes of balance, locomotor, and manipulative skills in 4-year-old preschool children. METHOD Participants The study participants were randomly selected from the 14 preschools which agreed to participate in a follow-up study targeted at preschoolers between the years 2010–2012 (Soini, et al., 2012). The initial target sample was 179 children born in 2007. The preschools were all municipal preschools, and they were situated in socioeconomically diverse districts in the same town (population ≈ 130,000) in central Finland. This study was conducted with 37 children, 17 boys (M age = 4.2 yr., SD = 0.3) and 20 girls (M age = 4.0 yr., SD = 0.3), for whom complete physical activity, anthropometry, and fundamental motor skills data were available. The data were collected from August to September 2011. The average daytime air temperature was 12.5°C and the average rainfall per month was 128 mm. A written informed consent from a parent or guardian was obtained for each participating child, and the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Jyväskylä. Measures Anthropometry.—The children's height was measured to the nearest 0.1 cm using a portable Charder HM 200P stadiometer. Weight was measured to the nearest 0.1 kg using a Seca 877 electronic scale. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated and expressed as kg/m2. Fundamental motor skills.—Seven test items from the APM Inventory manual and test booklet for assessing preschool children's perceptual and fundamental motor skills developed by Numminen (1995) for 4- to 7-yearold children were chosen for this study. The test items are classified into the domains of balance, locomotor, and manipulative skills, to assess overall motor proficiency at this age (Gallahue & Cleland-Donnelly, 2003; Gallahue, et al., 2011). The intraclass correlations for test-retest reliability for children ages 4 to 7 years have ranged from .86–.94 (Numminen, 1995). The fundamental motor skills measurements were carried out by the same two testers, who were trained by the authors. To render the measurement situation more comfortable, children were taken out of class for testing

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in groups of three, although each child was tested and scored individually. One of the trained researchers gave each group a single demonstration of each test, followed by verbal instructions. The children then performed each task individually, while the other trained researcher observed the performances and recorded the scores (sec., cm, or points) on the children's personal test sheets. The testing of each group of three children took approximately 20 min. The testing was conducted in the preschool's own gymnasium. Balance skills were assessed as static and dynamic balance. Static balance was the sum of balancing on the right and left foot (1.0 sec.; maximum 20 sec. per foot × 2 = maximum 40 sec.). The child was asked to stand on each foot for as long as he or she could. Time was kept with a stopwatch. Where a child was capable of standing on one foot for longer than 20 sec., he or she was asked to stop performing. Dynamic balance was total time taken (0.10 sec.) to jump sideways with both feet together 15 times over a platform (25 × 10 cm) attached to the floor. The child was asked to jump as quickly as he or she could. Time was kept with a stopwatch, and jumps were counted out loud. Locomotor skills were measured as the length (1.0 cm) of a standing broad jump and the sum score of sliding and galloping. In the standing broad jump test, a child was asked to jump as far as he or she could. Two trials were allowed, and the best was taken as the result. The length of a jump was measured with a measurement tape. The sliding and galloping test included sliding sideways to the right and left and galloping. In each case, 2 points were scored if the child performed the movement and 1 point if the child was unable to perform the movement. The maximum score for the three movements was thus 6 points. Performance was determined as presence or absence of performance. The child was asked to follow the tester, who demonstrated the movements by performing them in front of the child. Manipulative skills were measured with three different tests. Kicking a ball at a target of 50 cm × 50 cm was performed with a soft ball (circumference 21 cm) from a distance of 2 m. The test included a stationary ball kick, a stationary ball kick at running speed, and a moving ball kick: 2 points were scored if the ball hit the target and 1 point if the ball did not hit the target, the maximum score being 6 points. Performance was determined as presence or absence of performance. A single demonstration was given of each type of kick, after which the child was asked to perform the kick as accurately as he or she could in order to hit the target. The throwing and catching combination comprised 10 two-handed underarm soft ball (circumference 21 cm) throws toward a wall from a distance of 2 m. with two-handed catches after the ball had bounced on the floor once. Each successful catch scored 1 point; hence, the maximum score was 10 points. Performance was the presence or absence of performance. The child was asked to perform the task after demonstration by the tester,

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and throws were counted out loud. In throwing at a target, three tennis ball throws were executed with the preferred hand from a distance of 2 m. The target comprised three concentric circles (20, 40, and 60 cm in diameter), the purpose being to try to hit the smallest circle in the middle of the target. A score of 3 points was recorded if the ball hit the smallest circle, 2 points if the ball hit the middle circle, and 1 point if the ball hit the largest circle; hence, the maximum score was 9 points. The child was asked to throw the ball as accurately as he or she could to hit the smallest circle. A total skill score was calculated for each child by assessing whether, for each skill, the child's score was below, equal to, or above the mean, 1 point being awarded for a score equal to or above the mean and 0 for a score below the mean. These scores for the different skills were then summed to form a total skill score; hence, the maximum score was 7 points and the minimum score was 0 points. Physical activity.—The participant's daily physical activity was objectively measured using an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer, which has established validity and reliability in preschool children (Sirard, Trost, Pfeiffer, Dowda, & Pate, 2005; van Cauwenberghe, et al., & Cardon, 2011). For this study, accelerometry was deemed the most appropriate measure, as it enables quantifying the duration and intensity of physical activity by registering vertical movement in counts per short epochs, which is particularly important for assessing the typically sporadic and intermittent patterns of preschool children (Oliver, Schofield, & Kolt, 2007; Cliff, Reilly, & Okely, 2009; van Cauwenberghe, et al., 2011). The monitoring period was five consecutive days, and physical activity was recorded and stored as activity counts in 5-sec. epochs in the ActiGraph digital memory. If there were 20 consecutive minutes of zero counts, this period of zero counts was not used in the calculations. To be included as a valid measurement of physical activity, a minimum of 8 hr. per day (between 7 am to 9 pm) of recorded accelerometer data was required for at least three days (2 weekdays and one weekend day), which is considered a monitoring period that provides reliable estimates of daily physical activity in preschool children (van Cauwenberghe, et al., 2011). ActiLife accelerometer software4 (ActiLife Version 5) was used for data collection, and customized software was used for the data reduction and analysis. Mean accelerometer counts per minute (cpm) over the monitoring period were used in the analysis as a measure of total physical activity. The measure was calculated for each child as follows: [(average weekday value × 5) + (average weekend day value × 2)] / 7. In addition, minutes per day spent in sedentary behavior, and in light, moderate, http://support.theactigraph.com/dl/ActiLife-software

4

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vigorous, moderate-to-vigorous, and light-to-vigorous physical activity were calculated using validated cut-points defined by van Cauwenberghe, et al. (2011). Cut-points were scaled to 5-sec. epochs: sedentary behavior < 125 counts / 5 sec., light physical activity 125–195 counts / 5 sec., moderate physical activity 196–293 counts / 5 sec., vigorous physical activity ≥ 294 counts / 5 sec., moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ≥ 196 counts / 5 sec., and light-to-vigorous physical activity ≥ 125 counts / 5 sec. Sedentary behavior was also expressed as a proportion (%) of sedentary time of total monitored time. Parents and preschool staff were informed of the physical activity assessment procedure and the proper use of accelerometers. Parents were asked to let their child wear the accelerometer from Wednesday morning to Sunday evening. Consistent with a previous study (van Cauwenberghe, et al., 2011), the accelerometers were attached by a researcher and a parent at the right hip with an adjustable elastic band during the first day and collected at the preschool on Day 6 (Monday). Children were asked to wear the accelerometer at all times during their waking hours and only to remove it when sleeping and performing water-based activities. Analysis Statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and IBM SPSS Statistics 19 (IBM Corporation, New York). To describe the study population, their physical activity, and scores for fundamental motor skills, descriptive statistics were calculated for the whole sample and for boys and girls separately for age in months, anthropometry, and the physical activity and fundamental motor skills variables. The Shapiro-Wilks test was used to assess whether the physical activity and fundamental motor skills variables were normally distributed. To show the extent of the average daily activity of the studied children, physical activity was expressed as total counts per min. (cpm), and time (min.) spent in the different intensity (sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous) and combined intensity categories (light-to-vigorous and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity). The proportion (%) of time spent in sedentary activities was calculated by dividing the amount of sedentary time by the amount of time the accelerometer was worn multiplied by 100. Sex differences in anthropometry, fundamental motor skills, and physical activity were assessed with Mann-Whitney U tests, and the effect size for each comparison was calculated using Cohen's d. Standard multiple regression models with forced entry method were employed (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007) to investigate the associations between the fundamental motor skills and physical activity variables. Firstly, models were conducted in which total physical activity (cpm), min. per day of light-to-vigorous physical activity, and min. per

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day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were the dependent variables, and sex, age in months, BMI, and total skill score were explanatory variables. Another set of models were then run where the aforementioned physical activity variables were independent variables, and sex, age, BMI, and the seven separate fundamental motor skills variables were explanatory variables. All tests were two-tailed, and a .05 probability level was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Descriptive statistics and differences between the sexes for all variables are presented in Table 1. The sample's mean weight, height, and body mass index corresponded to the age group norms for Finnish children (Saari, Sankilampi, Hannila, Kiviniemi, Kesseli, & Dunkel, 2011). There were no significant sex differences in age or anthropometry. The Mann-Whitney U test indicated one statistically significant sex difference in the measured variables: girls stood for approximately 10 sec. longer on one foot than boys. No significant sex differences were observed in dynamic balance or locomotor skills. Although boys jumped approximately 5 cm further than girls, the difference was not statistically significant. The sum score of sliding and galloping was equal between the sexes. The sex differences in manipulative skills were not statistically significant, although boys scored more points on all three test items. Statistically significant sex differences were not found on the total skill score. Overall, no statistically significant sex difference was observed in total physical activity (boys, M = 671 cpm; girls, M = 688 cpm). With regard to the average daily time spent in activities in the different intensity categories, both sexes spent the most time sedentary and the least time in the moderate category. There were no statistically significant sex differences in the means of time (min./day) spent in the different activity intensity categories. Both sexes accumulated approximately one hour of moderateto-vigorous physical activity over the course of a day. The daily proportion of time spent sedentary was 85.8% for boys and 85.1% for girls. Standard multiple regression models controlled for sex, age in months, and body mass index indicated significant associations between physical activity and fundamental motor skills variables. The total skill score had a statistically significant association with total, light-to-vigorous, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Sliding and galloping were significantly associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and the throwing and catching combination was significantly associated with total, light-to-vigorous, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Of the seven skills measured, neither static balance, dynamic balance, standing broad jump, kicking a ball at a target, or throwing at a target were significantly associated with children's physical activity.

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TABLE 1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR AGE, ANTHROPOMETRY, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND FUNDAMENTAL MOTOR SKILLS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, AND COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE SEXES Measure

Total (N = 37) M

SD

Boys (n = 17) M

SD

Girls (n = 20) M

SD

Mann-Whitney U

p

Cohen's d

49.14

4.07

50.24

4.58

48.20

3.43

115.00

0.09

0.50

Weight, kg

17.55

2.64

18.04

2.97

17.13

2.30

138.00

0.33

0.34

Height, cm

104.08

5.43

105.71

6.45

102.70

4.06

134.50

0.28

0.56

Body Mass Index, kg/ cm2

16.13

1.44

16.05

1.36

16.20

1.53

169.00

0.98

0.02

Total PA, cpm

680.20

173.78

671.14

175.71

687.90

176.31

153.00

0.60

−0.10

Sedentary time, min./ day

560.55

43.42

568.26

50.52

554.00

36.39

145.00

0.45

0.32

38.82

7.21

40.18

6.85

37.68

7.49

143.00

0.41

0.35

Light PA, min./day Moderate PA, min./day

29.28

7.00

30.56

7.00

28.20

6.98

149.50

0.53

0.34

Vigorous PA, min./day

31.35

12.70

30.94

13.69

31.70

12.14

151.00

0.56

−0.06

LVPA, min./day

99.46

25.14

101.68

26.20

97.58

24.72

170.00

1.00

0.16

MVPA, min./day

60.64

19.09

61.50

20.39

59.90

18.42

161.00

0.78

0.08

Static balance, sec.

12.75

9.81

7.71

3.97

17.03

11.28

91.00

0.02

−1.10

Dynamic balance, sec.

22.20

7.39

21.85

8.81

22.51

6.16

149.50

0.53

−0.09

Standing broad jump, cm

71.00

18.07

73.41

18.33

68.95

18.06

149.00

0.52

0.25

635

(continued on next page) Note.—PA: physical activity, cpm (counts per minute); Sedentary time: time spent in activities in the sedentary category (0–1,491 cpm); Light: time spent in activities in the light intensity PA category (1,492–2,339 cpm.); Moderate: time spent in activities in the moderate intensity PA category (2,340–3,523 cpm.); Vigorous: time spent in activities in the vigorous intensity PA category (≥ 3,524 cpm.); MVPA: time spent in activities in the moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA category (≥ 2,340 cpm.); LVPA: time spent in activities in the light-to-vigorous intensity PA category (≥ 1,492 cpm).

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN 4-YEAR-OLDS

Age, mo.

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TABLE 1 (CONT’D) DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR AGE, ANTHROPOMETRY, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND FUNDAMENTAL MOTOR SKILLS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, AND COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE SEXES Measure

Total (N = 37)

Boys (n = 17)

Girls (n = 20)

SD

M

SD

M

SD

Sliding and galloping (3–6 points)

4.62

0.95

4.59

0.80

4.65

Kicking a ball at a target (0–6 points)

3.78

0.79

4.00

0.71

Throwing and catching combination (0–10 points)

0.92

1.57

1.18

Throwing at a target (0–9 points)

2.62

2.36

Total skill score (0–7 points)

3.62

1.86

Mann-Whitney

Cohen's d

U

p

1.09

159.00

0.72

−0.06

3.60

0.82

127.00

0.15

0.52

1.94

0.70

1.17

155.00

0.60

0.30

3.06

2.36

2.25

2.36

133.50

0.26

0.34

3.71

1.76

3.55

1.99

166.00

0.90

0.08

Note.—PA: physical activity, cpm (counts per minute); Sedentary time: time spent in activities in the sedentary category (0–1,491 cpm); Light: time spent in activities in the light intensity PA category (1,492–2,339 cpm.); Moderate: time spent in activities in the moderate intensity PA category (2,340–3,523 cpm.); Vigorous: time spent in activities in the vigorous intensity PA category (≥ 3,524 cpm.); MVPA: time spent in activities in the moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA category (≥ 2,340 cpm.); LVPA: time spent in activities in the light-to-vigorous intensity PA category (≥ 1,492 cpm).

K. S. IIVONEN, ET AL.

M

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637

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN 4-YEAR-OLDS TABLE 2 MULTIPLE REGRESSION MODELS PREDICTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN A SAMPLE OF 4-YR.-OLD PRESCHOOL CHILDREN (N = 37) Variable Constant

Total Physical Activity (cpm) B

SE

β

t

p

1152.28

442.49

2.60

.01

Sex

−2.48

55.43

−0.007

−0.05

.97

Age

−10.80

7.13

−0.25

−1.51

.14

Body Mass Index

−5.97

18.87

−0.05

−0.32

.75

Total skill score (0–7 points)

43.70

15.10

0.47

2.89

R

.23

Adjusted R2 b

.13

2 a

Standard Error of the estimate

.007

162.22

F changec (df1, df2)

2.33 (4, 32) Light-to-vigorous Physical Activity (min./day) B

Constant

SE

162.55

62.96

Sex

6.43

7.89

Age

−1.71

1.01

Body Mass Index

−0.78

2.69

6.58

2.15

Total skill score (0–7 points)

β

t

p

2.58

.02

0.13

0.82

.42

−0.28

−1.68

.10

−0.04

−0.29

.77

0.49

3.06

.004

.25

R2 a

.16

Adjusted R2 b Standard Error of the estimate

23.08

F changec (df1, df2) Variable Constant

2.67 (4, 32) Moderate-to-vigorous Physical Activity (min./day) B

SE

β

t

p

117.43

47.77

2.46

.02

Sex

3.39

5.98

0.09

0.57

.58

Age

−1.33

0.77

−0.28

−1.72

.09

Body Mass Index

−0.91

2.04

−0.07

−0.45

.66

5.00

1.63

0.49

3.07

Total skill score (0–7 points) R2 a

.25

Adjusted R2 b

.16

Standard Error of the estimate F changec (df1, df2)

.004

17.51 2.69 (4, 32)

(continued on next page) Note.—aCoefficient of determination accounted for the model; bAdjusted coefficient of determination accounted for the model; cChange statistics of the model.

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K. S. IIVONEN, ET AL. TABLE 2 (CONT’D) MULTIPLE REGRESSION MODELS PREDICTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN A SAMPLE OF 4-YR.-OLD PRESCHOOL CHILDREN (N = 37) Variable

Total Physical Activity (cpm) B

SE

Constant

698.30

490.99

Sex

−38.01

66.79

Age

−4.19 2.21 −1.74

Dynamic balance, sec. Standing broad jump, cm Sliding and galloping (3–6 points)

Body Mass Index Static balance, sec.

Kicking a ball at a target (0–6 points)

β

t

p

1.42

.17

−0.11

−0.57

.57

7.61

−0.10

−0.55

.59

19.93

0.02

0.11

.91

3.41

−0.10

−0.51

.62

0.93

4.24

0.04

0.22

.83

0.86

1.88

0.09

0.46

.65

49.69

30.58

0.27

1.63

.12 .39

−35.02

39.59

−0.16

−0.88

Throwing and catching combination (0–10 points)

62.11

19.27

0.56

3.22

Throwing at a target (0–9 points)

−2.27

13.62

−0.03

−0.17

.003 .87

.42

R2 a

.19

Adjusted R2 b Standard Error of the estimate

156.43

F changec (df1, df2) Variable

1.84 (10, 26) Light-to-vigorous Physical Activity (min./day) B

SE

Constant

92.59

70.66

Sex

−4.02

9.61

Age

−0.63

1.10

Body Mass Index

−0.62

Static balance, sec.

β

t

p

1.31

.20

−0.08

−0.42

.68

−0.10

−0.57

.57

2.87

−0.04

−0.22

.83

−0.55

0.49

−0.22

−1.13

.27

Dynamic balance, sec.

0.51

0.61

0.15

0.83

.41

Standing broad jump, cm

0.12

0.27

0.08

0.43

.67

Sliding and galloping (3–6 points)

7.32

4.40

0.28

1.66

.11

−0.99

5.70

−0.03

−0.17

.86

7.49

2.77

0.47

2.70

.01

Kicking a ball at a target (0–6 points) Throwing and catching combination (0–10 points)

(continued on next page) Note.—aCoefficient of determination accounted for the model; bAdjusted coefficient of determination accounted for the model; cChange statistics of the model.

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PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN 4-YEAR-OLDS

TABLE 2 (CONT’D) MULTIPLE REGRESSION MODELS PREDICTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN A SAMPLE OF 4-YR.-OLD PRESCHOOL CHILDREN (N = 37) Variable Throwing at a target (0–9 points)

Light-to-vigorous Physical Activity (min./day) B

SE

β

t

p

1.53

1.96

0.14

0.78

.44

R2 a

.42 .20

Adjusted R2 b Standard Error of the estimate

22.51

F changec (df1, df2)

1.89 (10, 26) Moderate-to-vigorous Physical Activity (min./day) B

SE

Constant

51.72

51.86

Sex

−2.98

7.06

Age

−0.38

0.80

Body Mass Index

−0.61

Static balance, sec.

β

t

p

0.10

.33

−0.08

−0.42

.68

−0.08

−0.48

.64

2.11

−0.05

−0.29

.78

−0.36

0.36

−0.18

−0.98

.33

Dynamic balance, sec.

0.43

0.45

0.17

0.97

.34

Standing broad jump, cm

0.13

0.20

0.12

0.63

.53

Sliding and galloping (3–6 points)

7.00

3.23

0.35

2.17

.04 .46

Kicking a ball at a target (0–6 points)

−3.11

4.18

−0.13

−0.75

Throwing and catching combination (0–10 points)

5.92

2.04

0.49

2.91

.007

Throwing at a target (0–9 points)

0.69

1.44

0.09

0.48

.64

R

.46

Adjusted R2 b

.25

2 a

Standard Error of the estimate F changec (df1, df2)

16.52 2.21 (10, 26)

Note.—aCoefficient of determination accounted for the model; bAdjusted coefficient of determination accounted for the model; cChange statistics of the model.

DISCUSSION This study investigated the relationship between the outcomes of fundamental motor skills and accelerometer-determined physical activity in a small sample of 4-year-old Finnish preschool children. Sex differences in the measured physical activity and motor skills variables were also explored. Fundamental motor skills expressed as a composite score of a set of gross motors skills across the three gross motor skill domains

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(Gallahue, et al., 2011) were positively associated with children's habitual physical activity. In the analysis in which the children's biological factors were included, the total skill score had a positive and statistically significant relationship to all the physical activity outcomes. The relation between the total skill score and light-to-vigorous physical activity adds to the research evidence for a positive association between motor skill proficiency, as measured by a total score of gross motor skills, and accelerometer-determined physical activity in 4-year-old preschool children (Fisher, et al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2008). Previous studies have mainly reported a positive relationship between total skill scores and time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (Fisher, et al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2008). This finding opens up the possibility that physical activity conducted at low intensity also plays a role in gaining proficiency in fundamental motor skills. This speculation, however, assumes that physical activity is the cause rather than the consequence of motor skill proficiency, which cannot be inferred from the cross-sectional designs reported in the present study and elsewhere (Sääkslahti, et al., 1999; Fisher, et al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2008; Cliff, et al., 2009; Goodway, et al., 2010). Increased engagement in physical activity may also act as a substrate for the acquisition of proficient motor skills, a crucial consideration when investigating young children, who are at the earliest stages of motor development (Gallahue, et al., 2011). A previous longitudinal analysis conducted with 5-year-old children provided preliminary evidence of a causal relationship between physical activity and motor skills by showing that increased baseline physical activity was associated with improvements in motor skills requiring good coordination at follow-up (Bürgi, Meyer, Granacher, Schindler, MarquezVidal, Kriemler, et al., 2011). This observation is in line with the theoretical model of Stodden, et al. (2008), suggesting that the association between physical activity and motor skills is weak at a young age but strengthens over time. This implies that it is important to promote physical activity throughout childhood. This study indicated that in the models in which children's biological factors were accounted for, locomotor skills measured by a sliding and galloping test were positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and manipulative skills, measured by a throwing and catching combination test, were positively associated with total physical activity as well as light-to-vigorous physical activity. These observations lend support to the findings of previous studies among 4-year-old preschoolers that have measured physical activity with accelerometers and motor skills with test batteries different from the one used here (Fisher, et al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2008; Cliff, et al., 2009; Goodway, et al., 2010). Cliff, et al., (2009) found positive relationships between a set of manipulative skills and moderate-

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to-vigorous physical activity, although only among boys. In turn, Williams, et al. (2008) indicated that a set of locomotor skills held the strongest relations with children's physical activity outcomes. Williams, et al. (2008) also indicated that the associations between motor skills and physical activity were more significant at the extremes of the distribution, meaning, for example, that the individuals with the best motor skills were also the most active. Due to the small number of participants in the present study, there was not enough statistical power to investigate sex differences in the associations between fundamental motor skills and physical activity or whether the relations would be stronger at the extremes of the distribution. Children's manipulative skills had a positive relationship with light-tovigorous intensity physical activity. The discrepancy with aforementioned studies reflects the fact that the associations between fundamental motor skills and physical activity in young children are far from clear and may be affected by a number of biological, psychological, and environmental factors (Hinkley, et al., 2008; Carson, et al., 2010; Trost, et al., 2010; Barnett, et al., 2013), such as perceptions of competence (LeGear, Greyling, Sloan, Bell, Williams, Naylor, et al., 2012) and opportunities to practice motor skills (Logan, Robinson, Wilson, & Lucas, 2011). Future studies with larger samples and the investigation of individual and environmental factors affecting both physical activity and fundamental motor skills are warranted to gain a better understanding of the complexity of this relationship in preschool-aged children. The absence of significant positive associations between balance skills and physical activity found in the present study is unexpected in light of previous findings indicating that these skills are related to physical activity in 5-year-old children (Bürgi, et al., 2011). Moreover, the weak and non-significant relationships between the remaining locomotor and manipulative skills and physical activity outcomes found in the present study do not support the earlier studies, which have mainly reported positive associations (Fisher, et al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2008; Cliff, et al., 2009; Goodway, et al., 2010). In these earlier studies, motor skills variables were combined into two subcategories (Williams, et al., 2008; Cliff, et al., 2009; Goodway, et al., 2010). It is possible that the relations between fundamental motor skills and physical activity found here might have been different if this solution had been considered, rather than partitioning the data into seven separate motor skills scores plus a total score. Despite employing a reliable ageappropriate fundamental motor skills test battery, the weak and non-significant relationships between motor skills and physical activity variables found here could in part be due to the use of a product-oriented approach that assesses skill outcome rather than technique. At the earliest stages of motor development, such as the preschool years, performance outcomes

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are usually inconsistent and low, and thus may not sufficiently differentiate between individuals (Gallahue & Cleland-Donnelly, 2003), with the result that physical activity may relate weakly to skill performance, as reported in a previous study (Fisher, et al., 2005). In the present sample and setting, boys and girls were found to be almost equally proficient in all the motor skills measured except for static balance, where girls outperformed boys. This same sex difference has been reported in earlier studies (Iivonen, Sääkslahti, & Nissinen, 2011; Venetsanou & Kambas, 2011), and it has been suggested to be more a consequence of environmental than of biological factors (Gallahue, et al., 2011). As expected (van Cauwenberghe, et al., 2011; Verbestehl, van Cauwenberghe, De Coen, Maes, De Bourdeaudhuij, & Cardon, 2011), the average total daily physical activity (M cpm) of the present 4-year-old boys and girls was not significantly different. In contrast to previous studies, in which preschool-aged boys have mainly demonstrated a greater amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity than girls (Jackson, et al., 2003; Sirard, et al., 2005; Evenson, Catellier, Gill, Ondrak, & McMurray, 2006; van Cauwenberghe, et al., 2011), the sample did not show any significant sex differences in time spent at different intensities of physical activity. It might be that physical activities have become a weekly routine in preschool curricula (Jones, Reithmuller, Hesketh, Therize, Batterham, & Okely, 2011), raising awareness among teachers of the importance of encouraging both sexes to engage in physical activities, along with the inclusion in the analyses of usable physical activity data for two weekdays when the children spent the majority of their waking hours in preschool. However, this speculation about educators' readiness to encourage both sexes equally to engage in physical activity should be addressed in larger and representative samples, as the limited size of the present sample and the non-inclusion of the preschool-related variables in the analysis may have influenced the results. The children's average daily proportion of sedentary time was approximately 85% of total monitored time, while mean time spent in moderateto-vigorous physical activity was approximately 60 min. per day. These observations are in accordance with earlier studies on this age group (Pate, Pfeiffer, Trost, Ziegler, & Dowda, 2004; Sirard, et al., 2005; Evenson, et al., 2006; Reilly, 2010; van Cauwenberghe, et al., 2011), and similar to the typical daily physical activity and sedentary behavior in preschool children reported by Reilly (2010). In the present children, the relatively low habitual physical activity and high engagement in sedentary behavior might have reduced the ability to detect associations with the motor skills scores. The use of accelerometers set to collect data at 5-sec. epochs, thereby enabling estimation of the sporadic physical activity behaviors of preschool children and the differentiation of these behaviors into meaningful subcat-

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egories, helped to reduce measurement error in this study. A further strength of the study was the use of an age-appropriate measure of fundamental motor skills that encompassed all three domains of fundamental motor skills (Gallahue & Cleland-Donnelly, 2003). The analysis also controlled for the child's sex, age, and body mass index, allowing investigation of the unique relationships between physical activity and the motor skills variables. While, to our knowledge, this is the first study on the relationship between fundamental motor skills and objectively measured physical activity in Scandinavian preschool children, it has several limitations that need to be addressed in future research. The small sample may have influenced the outcomes and limited the generalizability of the findings. Although product-oriented assessment is not dependent on observers' skills and thus may be an objective measure, the use of a product-oriented rather than a process-oriented measure of fundamental motor skills can be viewed as a weakness (Cliff, et al., 2009). Also, it is possible that the relationship between fundamental motor skills and physical activity might have been stronger if motor skills had been analyzed in the two subcategories of locomotor and manipulative skills, rather than separately. However, the use of subcategories of motor skills may lead to loss of important information: multiple variations in fundamental motor skills are a factor that should be kept in mind when designing the contents of motor skill interventions. It was not possible to investigate the test-retest reliability of the fundamental motor skills assessment in the present setting, owing to the challenges when attempting to incorporate the assessments without disturbing the preschools' daily routines. The testers were educated by the researchers. Although the physical activity data inclusion criteria used in this investigation have been shown to provide reliable estimates of habitual physical activity in 4-year-old children (van Cauwenberghe, et al., 2011), the present assessment of physical activity may have been limited by the inclusion criteria of three days, and 480 min. /day, of valid data. Additionally, the ActiGraph accelerometer is not able reliably to capture, e.g., water-based or cycling activities. As physical activity was assessed during autumn, the data may also have been confounded by weather-related variations. This study was conducted in an exceptionally rainy autumn, which might have limited the time spent outdoors. Research on this age group suggests that time spent outdoors relates to physical activity (Hinkley, et al., 2008). The inability to control for other environmental effects is also a limitation that should be noted. This study provided scientific evidence supporting a connection between outcomes of fundamental motor skills and habitual physical activity in preschool children. The relation that was observed between total motor skill, manipulative skills, and light-to-vigorous physical activity was sufficiently strong to warrant further investigation aimed at examining

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cause-and-effect relationships. Since the variables affecting the physical activity and fundamental motor skills of preschool children are many, more research is needed in different settings. Future studies could assess associations between motor skills and physical activity. For this purpose, longitudinal designs may be more appropriate. Investment in further research aimed at developing methods that can objectively and feasibly assess fundamental motor skills in preschool-age populations is also warranted. The present findings support the need for effective strategies that simultaneously promote fundamental motor skills and increase physical activity behaviors in young children. REFERENCES

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