The Relationship Between Body Weight and Motor Skill Competence in Hispanic Low-SES Preschool Children

Michelle Hamilton,Ting Liu,Sayed Elgarhy

doi:10.1007/s10643-016-0785-y

Michelle Hamilton, Ting Liu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0785-y

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motor competence and BMI in Hispanic preschool children from low SES backgrounds. One hundred and forty-eight Hispanic low SES preschool children (male = 81, female = 67 participated in this study. All children were measured on gross and fine motor competence using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2). Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated for all participants. A Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship between the preschool children’s BMI and PDMS-2 performance. A 2 (gender) × 3 (BMI) MANOVA was conducted to assess the gender and BMI differences on each PDMS-2 subtest. Nearly one-third of children in the study demonstrated gross and fine motor delays and slightly over one-third of the children were classified as overweight or obese. A significant negative correlation was found between BMI and visual motor integration scores. The MANOVA analysis showed that low SES Hispanic boys were significantly better in gross motor skill competence and girls were more advanced in fine motor performance. These findings will make a significant contribution to the literature in identifying relationship between motor competence and children’s body weight. This study is also beneficial to practitioners and educators in designing intervention and preschool curriculum to improve children identified with motor delays and to reduce BMI through physical activity.

Highlights

Over the past two decades, researchers have documented developmental delays and lack of motor competence among economically disadvantaged preschool children (Goodway and Branta 2003; Goodway et al 2010; Hamilton et al 1999; Liu et al 2015; Pope et al 2011)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motor competence and body mass index (BMI) in Hispanic preschool children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds
This findings indicate that 1/3 of low SES preschool children in this study were overweight for their age group and the percentage of obese children was at 17 %, which is identical to the CDC statistics

Summary

Introduction

Over the past two decades, researchers have documented developmental delays and lack of motor competence among economically disadvantaged preschool children (Goodway and Branta 2003; Goodway et al 2010; Hamilton et al 1999; Liu et al 2015; Pope et al 2011). Several studies have investigated the relationship between physical activity participation and the presence of fundamental motor skills in preschool children. Holfelder and Schott (2014) conducted a systematic review to examine the relationship between fundamental motor skills and physical activity for children of all ages. In an analysis of 23 studies, they noted a positive relationship between participation in physical activity and fundamental motor skills studies regardless of age and gender

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