Identifying childhood movement profiles and comparing differences in mathematical skills between clusters: A latent...

Area of Science:

• Child development
• Educational psychology
• Sports science

Background:

• Motor competence and physical fitness are crucial for children's overall development.
• Understanding the relationship between physical activity and academic skills is important for educational strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify distinct movement profiles among sixth-grade students.
• To examine differences in mathematical skills (basic math and problem-solving) across these movement profiles.

Main Methods:

• Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to categorize students into movement profiles.
• Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) compared mathematical skills between profiles.
• Sample included 461 students (mean age 11.27 years) from Finland.

Main Results:

• Four movement profiles were identified: 'poor movers', 'average movers', 'skilled movers', and 'expert movers'.
• These profiles significantly differed in motor competence and health-related fitness.
• Students in 'poor' and 'average' mover profiles scored lower in basic math compared to 'skilled movers'.

Conclusions:

• Movement profiles are associated with varying levels of motor competence and fitness.
• Poorer movement skills correlate with lower basic math performance.
• Cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, motor competence, and basic math skills appear interrelated in children.