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Physical Fitness and Somatic Characteristics of the Only Child

Luis P Rodrigues1,2, Ricardo Franco Lima1,2, Ana Filipa Silva1,2,3

  • 1Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun'Álvares, Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

Frontiers in Pediatrics
|July 17, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Children with siblings demonstrate superior physical fitness compared to only children. This finding highlights the benefits of having siblings for developing motor skills and overall physical health in children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Child Development
  • Sports Science

Background:

  • The number of only children is increasing globally.
  • Understanding factors influencing child development is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare somatic growth and physical fitness between only children and children with siblings.
  • To investigate potential sex-based differences in these outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Study included 542 children aged 7-15 years.
  • Assessed somatic growth (height, weight, BMI) and physical fitness (strength, endurance, agility).
  • Utilized variance analysis to compare groups.

Main Results:

  • Children with siblings showed significant advantages in flexed arm hang, sit-ups, 10-m shuttle run, and PACER test.
  • Significant interactions were found for weight and body mass index between sex and sibling status.
  • Sex differences were significant across all physical fitness variables.

Conclusions:

  • Having siblings is advantageous for children's general physical fitness.
  • Findings suggest potential areas for intervention in motor competence, especially for only children.

Keywords:
childrenhuman developmentmotor competencemotor performanceonly child

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