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The Effect of a Parent-Directed Program to Improve Infants' Motor Skills
Marlene Rosager Lund Pedersen1, Bjarne Ibsen1, Danae Dinkel2
1Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark.
Abstract:
Poor motor skills are associated with several factors that might delay children's development. Therefore, early programs to promote a child's motor development are essential. Within the first year of life, parents have a critical role in promoting their infant's motor development. However, little research has explored parent-directed programs that promote infant development in a Scandinavian context. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a parent-directed program to improve infant motor development.
Methods:
Parents of infants received a parent-directed program that included guidance from health visitors on ways to promote motor development, videos with motor development activities and a bag with related materials. Two municipalities in Denmark took part in the study (one intervention, one control). Health visitors in both municipalities measured the infants' age-appropriate motor skills once when the infants were between 9-11 months of age. A logistic regression model was used to analyze the data.
Results:
No difference was detected in motor development over time in the two municipalities regarding the proportion of children with age-appropriate motor skills.
Conclusions:
A parent-directed program in which parents were guided to play and encourage motor development with their infant showed no effect on infants' age-appropriate motor skills at 9-11 months.
