Analysis of the motor development of triplets

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to analyze physical and motor development of triplets during primary school. We hypothesized that the physical and motor development of triplets would be below the level of their peers, but that the differences would have decreased by the end of primary school. 45 triplets (15 groups of triplets) participated in the research. With their permission, the data on physical and motor development was obtained from the SLOfit school databases. The results of 11 measurement tasks were analyzed. Eight assessed children’s motor abilities and three assessed their physical characteristics. Using this type of longitudinal data, enabled the comparison of individuals over the same period of childhood and adolescence and compare them to population data. The study showed that, on average, the triplets’ scores were not significantly below the national average. However, some statistically sig­nificant differences did occur. At the start of primary school, triplets were ranking below the national average in physical development (they were shorter, lighter and had less subcutaneous fat) and in two of the eight motor tests (600m run and stand and reach). At the end of primary school, they remained below the national average in physical development, however, the differences had decreased significantly. At the end of primary school, the triplets performed below the national average in three motor tests (600m run, 60m dash and backwards obstacle course). They performed above the national average in three motor tests (20-s hand tapping, 60-s sit-ups and bent arm hang). In two tasks (standing long jump and stand and reach), their results were not significantly different from the national average.Namen raziskave je bil analizirati telesne značilnosti in gibalne sposobnosti trojčkov v obdobju osnovne šole. Predvidevali smo, da bosta telesni in gi­balni razvoj trojčkov ob vstopu v osnovno šolo na nižji ravni kot pri njihovih vrstnikih, a da se bodo razlike do konca osnovne šole zmanjšale. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 15 skupin trojčkov, skupno torej 45 posameznikov. Podatke o telesnem in gibalnem razvoju smo na podlagi soglasij pridobili iz šolskih zbirk podatkov SLOfit. Analizirali smo rezultate 11 merskih nalog; osem jih je ocenjevalo gibalne sposobnosti otrok, tri pa njihove telesne zna­čilnosti. Z uporabo tovrstnih longitudinalnih podatkov smo posameznike lahko primerjali v istem obdobju odraščanja in s populacijskimi podatki. Raziskava je pokazala, da trojčki po rezultatih v povprečju ne zaostajajo bi­stveno za nacionalnim povprečjem, vseeno pa smo zaznali nekaj statistično značilnih razlik. Na začetku osnovne šole so za nacionalnim povprečjem za­ostajali v telesnem razvoju (bili so manjši in lažji, imeli so manj podkožnega maščevja) ter pri rezultatih dveh od osmih gibalnih merskih nalog (tek na 600 m in predklon na klopci). Ob koncu osnovne šole so trojčki še vedno zaostajali za nacionalnim povprečjem v telesnem razvoju, a so se razlike ob­čutno zmanjšale. Gibalne sposobnosti ob koncu osnovne šole so pokazale, da so trojčki pri treh merskih nalogah (tek na 600 m, tek na 60 m in pre­magovanje ovir nazaj) dosegali rezultate pod nacionalnim povprečjem, pri drugih treh merskih nalogah (dotikanje plošče z roko, dviganje trupa, vesa v zgibi) pa so ga presegali. Pri dveh merskih nalogah (skok v daljino z mesta in predklon na klopci) se rezultati trojčkov niso statistično značilno razlikovali od nacionalnega povprečja