Abstract
Seefeldt`s classic motor development pyramid model recognizes the significance of fundamental movement skills (FMS) in physical activities and proposes a “proficiency barrier” between FMS and higher-level specific sports skills during middle childhood. However, the relationship between the layers of the conceptual model has not been empirically tested. This study investigated motor fitness (MF), FMS, and quality of movement patterns (QMP) in 7–10 years old children and evaluated the relationships among them. A total of 117 children were randomly selected to take tests of MF, the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2), and the Functional Movement Screen (FMS™). MF and FMS levels were classified according to percentile ranges. Two multiple (R×C) Chi-Square tests were applied to analyze the relationships between MF, FMS, and QMP. Post-hoc testing estimated the possibility of FMS and QMP to predict MF. The results showed that boys scored significantly higher on the object-control subtest and on the TGMD-2 compared to girls (p<0.001), while girls scored significantly higher on the FMS™ (p = 0.001). FMS score and QMP level were weakly correlated with MF (FMS: χ2 = 14.605, p = 0.006, Cramer`s V = 0.25; QMP: χ2 = 13.943, p = 0.007, Cramer`s V = 0.24). Thus, 60.5% of children with “excellent” FMS and 59.6% with “high” QMP were categorized as having a “good” MF. In contrast, only 23.1% of children with “poor” FMS and 24.3% with “low” QMP were classified as having a “good” MF. Our results confirm MF, FMS, and QMP are correlated with each other, although this relationship is weak. Further, a possible motor skill proficiency barrier exists already in children 7–10 years old. The study results support the promotion of physical activity and motor skill development in primary school children.
Highlights
Childhood obesity and sedentary behavior are among the most serious global public health challenges of the 21st century and their prevalence in developing countries have increased at an alarming rate [1,2]
The present study was conducted in June 2018 using a cross-sectional design to examine the relationship between motor fitness (MF), Fundamental movement skills (FMS) and quality of movement patterns (QMP) in primary school children
As MF, FMS, and QMP are related to age [28,47], the average scores of the MF (50.40 ± 8.22), Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) (68.36 ± 8.46), and FMSTM (14.29 ± 2.70) tests for all 117 children were compared to averages for the different grade groups
Summary
Childhood obesity and sedentary behavior are among the most serious global public health challenges of the 21st century and their prevalence in developing countries have increased at an alarming rate [1,2]. Data from the most recent national survey “2016 Physical Activity and Fitness in China—The Youth Study (PAFCTYS)”, which included 116,615 Chinese school children (9–17 years old), showed that 11.9% of Chinese school children were obese and 36.8% spent more than two hours a day on screens [3]. 29.9% of children met the recommended guidelines for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of at least 60 min/day [4] and only three out of 10 children met the national physical fitness standard of “excellent” or “good” [5]. Malina et al [8] suggested that children with adequately developed motor skills were more likely to continue to engage in regular physical activity during adolescence. The role of FMS has increasingly attracted attention from scholars and has recently become a part of the early elementary school pedagogical approach for physical activity [12,13,14]
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