Abstract
BackgroundAlthough previous studies have demonstrated that children with high levels of fundamental movement skill competency are more active throughout the day, little is known regarding children’s fundamental movement skill competency and their physical activity during key time periods of the school day (i.e., lunchtime, recess and after-school). The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between fundamental movement skill competency and objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) throughout the school day among children attending primary schools in low-income communities.MethodsEight primary schools from low-income communities and 460 children (8.5 ± 0.6 years, 54% girls) were involved in the study. Children’s fundamental movement skill competency (TGMD-2; 6 locomotor and 6 object-control skills), objectively measured physical activity (ActiGraph GT3X and GT3X + accelerometers), height, weight and demographics were assessed. Multilevel linear mixed models were used to assess the cross-sectional associations between fundamental movement skills and MVPA.ResultsAfter adjusting for age, sex, BMI and socio-economic status, locomotor skill competency was positively associated with total (P = 0.002, r = 0.15) and after-school (P = 0.014, r = 0.13) MVPA. Object-control skill competency was positively associated with total (P < 0.001, r = 0.20), lunchtime (P = 0.03, r = 0.10), recess (P = 0.006, r = 0.11) and after-school (P = 0.022, r = 0.13) MVPA.ConclusionsObject-control skill competency appears to be a better predictor of children’s MVPA during school-based physical activity opportunities than locomotor skill competency. Improving fundamental movement skill competency, particularly object-control skills, may contribute to increased levels of children’s MVPA throughout the day.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry No: ACTRN12611001080910.
Highlights
Previous studies have demonstrated that children with high levels of fundamental movement skill competency are more active throughout the day, little is known regarding children’s fundamental movement skill competency and their physical activity during key time periods of the school day
Locomotor skills and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) After adjustment for sex, age, Body mass index (BMI)-z score and socio-economic status (SES), locomotor skill competency was positively associated with total (P = 0.002) and after-school (P = 0.014) MVPA, but not with lunchtime (P = 0.075) or recess (P = 0.108) MVPA (Table 2)
Object-control skills and MVPA After adjustment for sex, age, BMI-z score and SES, object-control skill competency was positively associated with total (P < 0.001), lunchtime (P = 0.030), recess (P = 0.006) and after-school (P = 0.022) MVPA (Table 3)
Summary
Previous studies have demonstrated that children with high levels of fundamental movement skill competency are more active throughout the day, little is known regarding children’s fundamental movement skill competency and their physical activity during key time periods of the school day (i.e., lunchtime, recess and after-school). If provided the choice to be active, the combined lunchtime and recess periods has the potential to contribute up to 40% towards children’s daily physical activity recommendations [8]. The after-school period has been identified as a “critical window” for physical activity [9] It is a unique period of time where children generally have the discretion to choose their own activities and if engaged in active pursuits, can contribute to approximately 25% of their daily physical activity [10].
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