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Sleep and fundamental movement skills in primary schoolchildren: The REACT project
Jean-Philippe Chaput1, Sara Pereira2,3, Peter T Katzmarzyk4
1Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Insights
Sleep duration, efficiency, and regularity were not linked to fundamental movement skills (FMS) in children. Physical activity, age, and sex were more important factors for FMS proficiency in this study.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Motor Development
- Sleep Science
Background:
- The relationship between sleep and fundamental movement skills (FMS) in children is not well understood.
- Investigating this link is crucial for understanding factors influencing childhood motor development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between sleep characteristics (duration, efficiency, regularity) and FMS proficiency in school-aged children.
- To identify key factors influencing FMS proficiency in the pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 996 school-aged children in Portugal.
- Sleep was objectively measured using wrist accelerometers over 7 days.
- FMS proficiency was assessed using a digital platform evaluating object control skills.
Main Results:
- No significant associations were found between sleep characteristics and FMS proficiency.
- Being male, older age, and higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with better FMS proficiency.
- No significant interactions were observed between sex and age.
Conclusions:
- Sleep characteristics do not appear to be a significant correlate of FMS proficiency in school-aged children.
- Factors such as physical activity levels are more critical for FMS development.
- Future research should focus on other determinants of motor skill acquisition in children.
Objective:
Whether sleep is related to fundamental movement skills (FMS) in the pediatric population is largely unknown. The objective of this study was to examine the association between sleep characteristics (duration, efficiency, regularity) and FMS proficiency levels in school-aged children.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study included 996 children (mean age: 8.3 ± 1.2 years) from 25 of the 32 primary schools in Matosinhos, northern Portugal. Data collection occurred between January and June 2022. Sleep was assessed using an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer worn on the wrist for 7 consecutive days. FMS proficiency levels were assessed in the schools with a new digital platform (Meu Educativo®) that evaluated five object control skills (dribble, kick, catch, throw, and underhand roll), with a total score ranging between 5 and 15. Multilevel ordinal logistic regression was used to test the associations between sleep characteristics and FMS proficiency levels. Covariates included age, sex, body mass index z-score, socioeconomic status, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
Results:
The results showed that sleep characteristics (duration, efficiency, and regularity) were not related to FMS proficiency. Being a boy, older age, and higher moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels were all significantly associated with better FMS proficiency levels. There were no significant sex-by-age interactions.
Conclusion:
Sleep was not found to be related to FMS performance in children. This finding suggests that sleep is not a good correlate of FMS proficiency levels in school-aged children, and attention should be dedicated to other more important factors such as skill-learning-specific physical activity.
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