Abstract
Since early childhood is regarded as an important period of motor and cognitive development, understanding the effects of physical activity on motor abilites and cognitive development in preschool children has major public health implications. This study investigates the effects of a 12 weeks' yoga intervention program on motor and cognitive abilities in preschool children. Preschool children (n = 45; age 5–6 years) attending regular preschool programs were non-randomly assigned to yoga intervention (n = 23; 30 min sessions three times per week) or a control group (n = 22; no additional organized physical activity program). Exercise training for the intervention group included yoga program. Motor abilities (BOT-2 subtests: fine motor integration, manual dexterity, balance and bilateral coordination), and cognitive abilities (School Maturity Test subtests: visual memory, stacking cubes and codes) were assessed before and after the intervention period in both groups. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. Participants in the intervention group improved fine motor integration (p = 0.022), fine motor skills in general (0.029), bilateral coordination (0.000), balance (0.000), and body coordination (0.000). Preschool children's participation in the preschool yoga intervention significantly improved their motor abilities, but not their cognitive abilities.
Highlights
Since early childhood is regarded as an important period of motor and cognitive development, understanding the effects of physical activity on motor abilities and skills, and cognitive development in preschool children has major public health implications [1]
Improvement in the fine motor integration test results has been noted in favor of the intervention group (p = 0.022)
A significant differences were detected in the fine motor skills test results (p = 0.029), bilateral coordination (p = 0.005), balance (p = 0.000), and body coordination total score (p = 0.000) (Table 2)
Summary
Since early childhood is regarded as an important period of motor and cognitive development, understanding the effects of physical activity on motor abilities and skills, and cognitive development in preschool children has major public health implications [1]. Regular participation in physical activities prevents obesity in children and provides numerous health benefits, both physical psychological [2]. It is very important to examine how different programs contribute to the development of different abilities and skills which are necessary for both participation in different sports activities during lifetime and the normal functioning of an individual. One of these programs is yoga for children
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