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Weight status and gender-related differences in motor skills and in child care - based physical activity in young
Antoine Bonvin1, Jérôme Barral, Tanja H Kakebeeke
1Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Bâtiments administratifs de Vidy, Route de Chavannes 33, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. antoine.bonvin@unil.ch
Insights
In young children, no significant differences in motor skills were found based on weight or gender. However, boys exhibited higher physical activity levels during childcare than girls, similar to older children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Child Development
- Sports Science
Background:
- Childhood obesity and declining physical activity are rising concerns.
- Limited data exists on motor skills and physical activity in very young children (2-4 years).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate early differences in motor skills and physical activity based on weight status and gender in preschoolers.
- To provide data for establishing early physical activity recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Assessed motor skills using an obstacle course (Zurich Neuromotor Assessment).
- Measured physical activity with accelerometers in 529 children (2-4 years) from 58 Swiss childcare centers.
- Classified weight status using International Obesity Task Force criteria for BMI.
Main Results:
- 13% of children were overweight; no significant weight-related motor skill differences were found, though a trend for lower overall scores in overweight children emerged (p=0.059).
- No significant weight-related differences in physical activity were observed.
- Boys showed higher physical activity (moderate-vigorous, vigorous) and lower sedentary time during childcare compared to girls (p<0.01).
Conclusions:
- Early childhood global motor skills do not significantly differ by weight status or gender.
- Boys engage in more physical activity during childcare than girls, aligning with trends in older children.
- Findings inform targeted health promotion and physical activity guidelines for young children.
Background:
Over the last decades, a decline in motor skills and in physical activity and an increase in obesity has been observed in children. However, there is a lack of data in young children. We tested if differences in motor skills and in physical activity according to weight or gender were already present in 2- to 4-year-old children.
Methods:
Fifty-eight child care centers in the French part of Switzerland were randomly selected for the Youp'là bouge study. Motor skills were assessed by an obstacle course including 5 motor skills, derived from the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment test. Physical activity was measured with accelerometers (GT1M, Actigraph, Florida, USA) using age-adapted cut-offs. Weight status was assessed using the International Obesity Task Force criteria (healthy weight vs overweight) for body mass index (BMI).
Results:
Of the 529 children (49% girls, 3.4 ± 0.6 years, BMI 16.2 ± 1.2 kg/m2), 13% were overweight. There were no significant weight status-related differences in the single skills of the obstacle course, but there was a trend (p = 0.059) for a lower performance of overweight children in the overall motor skills score. No significant weight status-related differences in child care-based physical activity were observed. No gender-related differences were found in the overall motor skills score, but boys performed better than girls in 2 of the 5 motor skills (p ≤ 0.04). Total physical activity as well as time spent in moderate-vigorous and in vigorous activity during child care were 12-25% higher and sedentary activity 5% lower in boys compared to girls (all p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
At this early age, there were no significant weight status- or gender-related differences in global motor skills. However, in accordance to data in older children, child care-based physical activity was higher in boys compared to girls. These results are important to consider when establishing physical activity recommendations or targeting health promotion interventions in young children.
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