What do we really know about the constraints and enablers of physical activity levels in young children?

Ample evidence exists to support the benefits of habitual physical activity levels on long term health and well-being for adults, youth and, more recently, children. However information about factors that impact on young children’s choices to be active or inactive is limited because the accurate measurement of physical activity in young children is difficult. Consequently, many statements found in the literature about young children’s physical activity levels are not founded on empirically validated information. Some conclusions are extrapolated to younger children from findings in studies of older children. This paper is based on an extensive review of literature and the outcomes of a National Summit held in Fremantle, WA in November 2001. It seeks to identify those key early life experiences and context factors that research has confirmed create the child who is attracted to physically active play rather than sedentary play. The implications of these findings for future research and intervention programs are presented

Developmental coordination disorder: A discrete disability

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have a motor learning disability that reduces their ability to interact with the environment and compromises their social and emotional development. Accordingly, these children should be given the extra assistance and consideration given to children with other learning difficulties. Even though many countries have well developed policies to support students at educational risk, children with movement difficulties are not widely considered to be members of this category. This paper argues for a change in education policy and practice in order to better support children with DCD or Motor Learning Disability (MLD). Improved teacher education practices, community education of professionals and parents and a greater interaction between parents, teachers and therapists will enrich the educational experiences of these children. A first step, however is to acknowledge that DCD is a motor learning disability (MLD) and consider adopting this alternative term. While focussing on the Australian perspective, this paper has implications for education policy and practice in all countries

Australian adolescents\u27 motor competence and perceptions of physical activity outcomes

Benefits that are generally associated with physical activity include enjoyment of the activity, expectation of positive benefits, intention to exercise, perceived fitness or health self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and positive physical self-perceptions (Sallis & Owen, 1999). In the Australian context where motor skill is highly valued, the ability to participate in play, games, and sports is likely to be particularly important in the socialization process of adolescents, such as their opportunity for reaffirming friendships and gaining social support from significant others. To be competent at movement would seem a clear advantage in order to experience quality of life through physical activity. However for adolescents who have poor motor competence, whose past experiences in sporting contexts have been less positive, future engagement in physical activity may not be viewed as so worthwhile. From a theoretical perspective motor competence has been closely linked to positive self-perceptions (Harter, 1999; Nicholls, 1990) and feelings of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997). Furthermore, the choices individuals make are directly related to their expectancies for success, and subjective values they place on the options they perceive to be available (Eccles, Barber, & Jozefowicz, 1999). Empirical findings with adolescents (Cantell, Smyth, & Ahonen, 2003; Poulsen, Ziviani, Cuskelly, & Smith, 2007) suggest that level of motor competence is associated with psycho-social outcomes that in turn influence the intrinsic motivation to engage in physical activity. Even with marginal motor difficulties, adolescents perceive greater barriers to exercise (Rose, Larkin, Hands, & Parker, 2008) but there is little known of how adolescents with low motor competence perceive outcomes of future engagement in physical activity differently to their better coordinated peers. Their difficulties are not only frequently overlooked but are compounded by not experiencing the joy of participation and benefit from the healthy outcomes of physical activity so important to quality of life. Furthermore, there is evidence that movement difficulties experienced in childhood do not go away and there are often physical and psycho-social difficulties extending into adulthood (Cantell, Smyth, & Ahonen, 2003). In our study we proposed that adolescent girls and boys who differ in level of motor competence will also differ in their perceptions of benefits gained from any future engagement in sports and physical recreation. These proposed differences especially may be evident in physical and social evaluative settings where according to Harter (1999) adolescents are particularly vulnerable. She found that subgroups experiencing motor difficulties are likely to have a diminished view of their physical selves and be unwilling to participate in physical activities. If little positive benefit is perceived from participation there are strong implications for physical health associated with low energy expenditure and for overall quality of life. Considering that gender is linked to academic, occupational and recreational choice (Eccles et al., 1999) and that socialization for girls in sport often differs from that of boys (Coakley, 2007), girls may view their future in physical activity as less rewarding. This might have implications not only for girls but particularly for those girls who also lack competence in movement. Boys also may experience disadvantage if their motor competence does not reach the expectations of a sport oriented society (Poulsen et al., 2007). Our purpose here was to examine the likelihood of experiencing positive or negative outcomes from engaging in physical activity in adolescent boys and girls who differed in level of motor competence

Physical fitness of children with motor learning difficulties

Children with motor learning difficulties (MLD) tend to be less physically active than their coordinated peers and one likely consequence is a reduced level of physical fitness. In this study, 52 children with MLD aged 5 to 8 years, were compared to 52 age- and gender-matched control children across a range of health and skill related fitness components. Analyses of variance revealed significantly lower scores in the group with MLD on the tests for cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, abdominal strength, speed, and power than the control group. Furthermore, the group with MLD had a significantly higher Body Mass Index (BMI). These findings have implications for educators and allied health professionals working with this age group. Programs need to teach children with movement difficulties to perform tasks used in fitness assessment and also work on the development of physical fitness

Intra-individual variation in children\u27s physical activity patterns: Implications for measurement

Children\u27s physical activity (PA) patterns change form day to day. This intra-individual variability affects precision when measuring key physical activity and sedentary behavior variables. This paper discusses strategies to reduce the random error associated with intra-individual variability and demonstrates the implications for assessing PA when varying number of days are sampled. Self-reported data collected on two hundred and ninety eight 13- to 14-year-olds were used to compare estimates of PA and sedentary behaviour derived from between 1 and 7 days of recall data. Large intra-individual coefficients of variation were calculated for physical activity level (14.5%), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (83.4%), screen time (60.8%) and sleep (12.2%). While the magnitude of error associated with estimating means decreased as more days were sampled, the paper notes that depending on the nature of the research question being asked, fewer days may yield sufficiently precise estimates. Therefore, researchers should conduct power analyses based on estimated inter- and intra-individual variability and sample size to determine how many days to sample when assessing children\u27s PA patterns

The psychometric properties of the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development as a longitudinal measure with Australian youth

The importance of considering age and sex differences in the assessment of motor performance has been largely overlooked. This study examines the psychometric properties of the US developed McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND) using data from a longitudinal sample of 986 Australian youth at 10, 14 and 17 years. A key finding was the sex and age interaction of the Neuromuscular Developmental Index (NDI) (F = 121.46, p \u3c .001). Males had a significantly lower mean NDI score at 10 years and the females had a lower score at 17 years. The factor structure differed from the US samples (McCarron, 1997) at each age and between males and females. The sex specific analyses showed that the underlying structure was more complex for younger females. Although the MAND remains a useful test of motor performance for Australian children, further consideration is warranted regarding sex differences, the relevance of the US based normative tables and factor structures

The relationship between physical activity, motor competence and health-related fitness in 14-year-old adolescents

Physical activity, physical fitness, and motor competence are important health-related constructs. However, the relationship between them, particularly among children and adolescents, is still unclear. In this study, motor competence (measured by the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development), pedometer-determined physical activity and physical fitness (aerobic fitness, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and body composition) were examined in a cohort of 1585 adolescents (771 girls, 814 boys) of mean age 14.1 yrs. Significant gender differences were observed for all measures except motor competence. Apart from hip and shoulder flexibility, males outperformed females. For both males and females, motor competence was associated with all fitness measures, physical activity was associated only with aerobic fitness and aerobic fitness was associated with physical activity, motor competence, BMI and chest pass. Among males, aerobic fitness was also associated with all other fitness tests. The correlations were, in general, moderate to weak. The results challenge the current focus on physical activity rather than physical fitness as the preferred intervention

Physical activity measurement methods for young children: A comparative study

Many behavior patterns that impact on physical activity experiences are established in early childhood, therefore it is important that valid, reliable, and feasible measures are developed to identify children who are not developing appropriate and healthy activity habits. In this study, measures of physical activity derived by accelerometry and pedometry are compared with direct observation for twenty-four 5- and 6-year-old children. The children were monitored for 30 minutes over five consecutive days during a 30 minute free play session in their pre-primary setting. The results for all measures were significantly correlated. When compared to direct observation, the coefficient of determination indicated that the pedometer (R2 = .81) was able to more accurately predict all levels of physical activity than the accelerometer (R2 = .59). When the children were grouped into low, moderate and high activity levels using observation, the pedometer data was better able to separate the groups than the accelerometer data. These findings indicate that the pedometer is a better measure of free play physical activity in five- and six-year-old children than the accelerometer

FORCE DEVELOPMENT PROFILE OF THE LOWER LIMBS IN THE GRAB AND TRACK START IN SWIMMING

Left and right ground reaction forces of 9 male and 7 female national and international level swimmers were measured during grab and track starts. Analysis of temporal, kinetic and velocity measures indicated that while swimmers left the block faster in the track start, grab starts enabled swimmers to generate greater vertical impulses and take-off velocities. No significant differences were found in the horizontal impulses and the time to 6m between the two starts. Left and right force profiles were examined qualitatively to identify key points related to force development strategies and lateral asymmetr

Does motor competence affect self-perceptions differently for adolescent males and females?

Little is understood about the impact of level of motor competence on self-perceptions in adolescence, in particular how this may differentially affect girls and boys. A sample of 1,568 14-year-old participants (766 girls and 802 boys) were grouped into four motor competence levels (very low to high) based on the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND). Self-perceptions were assessed using the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Boys had higher self-perceptions of global self-worth, athletic competence, and physical appearance, whereas girls had higher scores for close friendships and behavioral conduct. Main effects in the predicted direction were found for motor competence for self-perceptions of global self-worth, athletic competence, physical appearance, close friendships, social acceptance, and romantic appeal. These findings indicate that level of motor competence is important in many aspects of self-perceptions, affecting girls and boys differently. Higher motor competence has a protective effect on psychosocial health, particularly for girls