Biomotor development in 1992 and 2002 samples of seven-year-old children

The aim of the study was to determine quantitative and qualitative differences in the morphological-motor status between elementary school first-graders of both sexes in 1992 and 2002. A standard set of 11 variables currently used in the Croatian school system to evaluate the morphological, motor and functional status of school children was employed at the beginning of academic years in a sample of 635 children (325 male and 310 female) in 1992 and a sample of 850 children (430 male and 420 female) in 2002. The mean age of study children was 7 years (+/- 2 months). Results of canonic discriminative analysis revealed the male children enrolled in elementary school first grade in 2002 to show better performance on the tests of aerobic endurance, static strength and explosive strength, and to have greater mass of muscle tissue and less adipose tissue, while achieving poorer results on the test of movement frequency than their 1992 counterparts. Female children tested in 2002 showed better results on the test of aerobic endurance and all tests of strength factors, with greater mass of muscle tissue and less adipose tissue, while yielding poorer results on the tests of flexibility, coordination and movement frequency as compared with their 1992 counterparts. Factor analysis in the morphological-motor system isolated three varimax factors each in children of both sexes tested in 1992 and 2002. First factor showed a pattern of a general morphological factor predominantly defined by body weight and volume in the children of both sexes from both study years. Second factor showed a pattern of a general motoricity factor predominantly defined by explosive strength, coordination and speed in children tested in 1992, whereas in their 2002 counterparts the general motoricity factor was predominantly defined by the factors of strength and endurance. Third factor was defined by flexibility in both 1992 and 2002 children. In female children tested in 1992, second factor mostly defined energy regulation with predominance of explosive and static strength, followed by coordination, whereas third factor was defined by movement frequency and aerobic endurance. In female children tested in 2002, second factor mostly defined energy regulation with predominance of explosive and repetitive strength, followed by aerobic endurance and coordination, whereas third factor was defined by movement frequency followed by muscle tone regulation.