The effects of aerobic exercsie program on the bilateral coordination of preschool children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of aerobic exercise program on the bilateral coordination of preschool children. The boys and girls (n = 60), aged five to six, were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 30) or the control group (n = 30). The children in the experimental group were involved in aerobic training program over a 12-week period. Three training sessions were performed per week, lasting 30 minutes each. For the evaluation of children’s coordination, the Bilateral Coordination subtest from the BOT-2 (Bruininks- Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency) battery of tests was used. The children completed seven different tasks, both at the initial and the final measurement, which were further used to calculate the total score. To determine the changes in bilateral coordination, the two-factor (group × time) univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used, while the effect size, presented by the partial Eta squared, was calculated for each task and the total score. A nonsignificant effect (p = .280) was observed for the task “Touching Nose with Index Fingers - Closed Eyes”, whereas a significant improvements in all the other tasks and the total score were found in the intervention group (p < .05). The magnitude of effect size ranged from medium to large. The findings indicate that the aerobic exercise program contributes to the development of bilateral coordination in preschool children.