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The relationship between children's motor proficiency and health-related fitness
Nikki Milne1, Gary M Leong2, Wayne Hing1
1Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond Institute of Health and Sport, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Insights
Children with lower motor proficiency have poorer health-related fitness, including higher BMI and waist circumference. Improving motor skills may be key to enhancing children's physical health.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Motor Development
- Sports Medicine
Background:
- Motor proficiency is crucial for children's physical development.
- Health-related fitness is a key indicator of overall well-being in youth.
- Understanding the interplay between motor skills and fitness is vital for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between motor proficiency and health-related fitness in children.
- To identify specific motor skill combinations associated with fitness measures.
- To explore motor competence as a potential factor in childhood obesity and cardiorespiratory health.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study involving 77 children (mean age 11.19 years).
- Assessed motor proficiency using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition.
- Measured health-related fitness indicators: BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, heart rate, and VO2 peak.
Main Results:
- Combined motor proficiency showed strong negative correlations with BMI (r²=0.62) and waist circumference (r²=0.72).
- A strong positive relationship was observed between motor proficiency and VO2 peak (r²=0.78).
- Children with lower motor proficiency exhibited significantly higher BMI, waist circumference, and weight compared to peers with higher proficiency.
Conclusions:
- Motor proficiency is significantly linked to key health-related fitness measures in children, independent of age.
- Motor incompetence may be an underlying factor contributing to poor physical health in children.
- Focusing on motor skill development is recommended for children with suboptimal health-related fitness, such as high BMI or low cardiorespiratory fitness.
Aims:
The overall purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between motor proficiency and health-related fitness in children. In addition, the study aimed to determine if particular combinations of motor skills have a stronger relationship with individual health-related fitness measures.
Methods:
Seventy-seven children (F:28, M:49) (mean age: 11.19 ± 2.74 years) participated in this prospective cohort study. Physical measures included the following: motor proficiency (Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, heart rate and VO(2) peak (mL/kg/min).
Results:
After factoring in age, motor proficiency as a combined total score had a strong negative relationship with the health-related fitness measures of BMI (r (2) = 0.62, P < 0.001) and waist circumference (r (2) = 0.72, P < 0.001) and a strong positive relationship with VO2 peak (r (2) = 0.78, P = 0.002). Children with lower motor proficiency (≤25th percentile) had a significantly larger mean waist circumference (M = 13.85 cm, 95% confidence interval (CI) (2.05, 25.66), P = 0.01), heavier weight (M = 22.17 kg, 95% CI (2.44, 41.91), P = 0.02) and higher BMI (M = 5.10 kg/m(2) , 95% CI (0.33, 9.87), P = 0.03) than children with higher motor proficiency (≤75th percentile).
Conclusions:
Motor proficiency, once corrected for age, is significantly related to a number of health-related measures in children and should therefore be considered a focus for investigation for children with poor health-related fitness (e.g. high BMI and waist circumference percentiles or low cardiorespiratory fitness), as motor incompetence could be an underlying contributing factor to a child's poor physical health.
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