Association between fine motor function and fundamental cooking skills in preschool-aged children

Early exposure to performing cooking skills at a young age might have the dual capability to improve nutrition behavior and fine motor function. While some evidence has demonstrated the positive benefits for nutrition behavior, there is a paucity of evidence relating cooking skills to fine motor function.

Is better cooking skills (CS) performance associated with better fine motor skills (FMS) in preschool-aged children and what are the shoulder and elbow joint control strategies employed during cooking skill performance?

We conducted an observational, cross-sectional study of preschool-aged children. Thirty-eight participants aged 3-5 years (17 males, 20 females; mean age = 3.89 years, sd = 0.7 years) were recruited through non-randomized, convenience sampling. Participants completed the Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) and Circle Drawing Test to assess fine motor skills, and four CS: stirring, mashing, spooning, and spreading. A piloted criterion-based test was implemented to score both the outcome and movement performance of each CS. Total CS ability was calculated as the summed total of each CS composite score. An inertial measurement unit motion capture system registered elbow and shoulder joint kinematics during the performance of the cooking skills.

Correlation analyses indicated that better NHPT performance was associated with higher total CS score, mashing performance, and spreading performance. In general, children that demonstrated better fine motor function via the NHPT maintained a more anatomically neutral shoulder joint position and faster average joint velocities during the performance of CS. Independent t-tests indicated that there were no sex differences between male and female children on the CS nor FMS performance. Our results demonstrated preliminary evidence suggesting an association between cooking skills performance and fine motor function, as well as initial characterization of cooking skill movement patterns associated with more adept fine motor control.