Bi-directional prospective associations between objectively measured physical activity and fundamental motor skills in children: a two-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: The direction of the longitudinal relationship between physical activity (PA) and fundamental motor skills (FMS) remains unclear. We evaluated the bi-directional, prospective relationships between intensity-specific physical activity (PA) and domain-specific fundamental motor skills (FMS) over 2 years in children attending preschool at baseline. METHODS: A sample of 230 children (mean age at baseline 4.7 yr, 52% boys) from the 'Sogn og Fjordane Preschool Physical Activity Study' was measured 2 years apart. PA was assessed using ActiGraph accelerometers (GT3X+). FMS were evaluated by a test battery guided by the 'Test of Gross Motor Development 3' and the 'Preschooler Gross Motor Quality Scale'. PA outcomes were total PA (TPA [counts per minute]) and intensity specific PA and sedentary behaviour (SED) (min/day). FMS outcomes were locomotor, object control, and balance skills. Linear mixed model adjusting for potential co-variates was used to evaluate the bi-directional prospective associations between these variables, including the moderating effect of sex and age. RESULTS: Baseline total PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), and vigorous PA predicted higher locomotor, object control, and balance skills at follow-up (standardized regression coefficient (ß): 0.17 to 0.26, p = 0.002-0.017). Baseline SED predicted lower locomotor skills at follow-up (ß: - 0.27, p = 0.012). Baseline light PA did not predict FMS at follow-up. Baseline FMS were not associated with PA or SED at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: MVPA was positively associated with development of FMS in young children. In contrast, FMS were not related to future PA levels. Our results suggest promotion of MVPA is important for FMS development in young children.

Reliability and Structural Validity of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 in Croatian Preschool Children.

Monitoring and assessment of the development of motor skills is an important goal for practitioners in many disciplines as well as researchers interested in motor development. A well-established tool for such purpose is the Movement Assessment Battery for Children Second Edition (MABC-2) which covers three age ranges and contains eight motor items in each range related to the manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and balance. The main aim of the study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the MABC-2 age band one in a sample of Croatian preschool children. Structural validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Measures of relative and absolute reliability were established by computing the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of the measurement (SEM), and smallest detectable change (SDC). About 17% of the children of the total sample fall into the categories of motor impairment and risk for impairment, respectively, while 83% were found to be in the category of normally developing children. Intraclass correlation coefficient for the total standard score was 0.79 while individual items, all except one, ranged from 0.70 to 0.83. Drawing trail, but also throwing beanbag and one-leg balance items presented large SEM and SDC values. CFA initially yielded a model with questionable fit to the data. After re-specification, excellent model fit was attained confirming the proposed three-factor model. Satorra-Bentler χ2(26) reached 38.56 (p = 0.054), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.028, non-normed fit index (NNFI) was 0.98, adjusted goodness of fit (AGFI) was 0.97, and standardized root mean residual (SRMR) was 0.030. All the variables loaded significantly, and only two significant standardized residuals have been found. Correlations between the factors were weak, supporting discriminant validity of the test. We found MABC-2 to be an appropriate instrument to assess the development of motor competences of preschool children.