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Reallocation of 24-h Movement Behaviours and Their Effects on Preschoolers' Fundamental Movement Skills: A
Xinyu Wang1, Xu Zhang1, Miaomiao Wan1
1Department of Sports Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Insights
Prioritizing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in preschool children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Movement Science
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep (SLP) are key 24-hour movement behaviours influencing preschool motor development.
- Previous research linked these behaviours independently to motor skills, but their integrated impact was understudied.
- Understanding the interplay of these behaviours is crucial for optimizing early health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between 24-hour movement behaviours (SB, light PA, MVPA, SLP) and fundamental movement skills (FMS) in preschoolers.
- To examine the effects of isotemporal reallocation of movement behaviours on FMS.
- To identify optimal movement behaviour patterns for enhancing motor development in early childhood.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 292 preschoolers (3-6 years) using accelerometers for SB, LPA, and MVPA, and parent-reported sleep duration.
- Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-3).
- Compositional data analysis (CoDA) applied to examine relationships between movement behaviours and FMS.
Main Results:
- Higher proportion of MVPA was significantly associated with better total motor skills (MS) and locomotor skills, even after adjusting for covariates.
- Isotemporal reallocation of 15 minutes to MVPA significantly improved total MS and locomotor skills.
- The positive impact of increasing MVPA on FMS was greater than the negative impact of decreasing MVPA.
Conclusions:
- Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is a critical component for optimizing motor development in preschool children.
- Prioritizing MVPA within the 24-hour movement behaviour framework is essential for enhancing fundamental movement skills.
- Even small reallocations of time towards MVPA can yield significant benefits for FMS in early childhood.
Background:
Physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) and sleep (SLP)-key components of 24-h movement behaviours-have each been independently linked to motor development in preschool children. However, the lack of understanding regarding their integrated and mutually exclusive nature has limited research on their combined impact on early health outcomes. This study employed compositional data analysis (CoDA) to examine the relationships between these behaviours and fundamental movement skills (FMS), as well as potential changes in FMS resulting from isotemporal reallocation.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 292 preschool children (3-6 years old; 149 boys and 143 girls). SB, light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured using accelerometers, whereas sleep duration was parent-reported. FMS, including locomotor skills, object-control skills and total motor skills (total MS), were assessed using the third edition of the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-3). CoDA was used to analyse the relationship between 24-h movement behaviours and FMS.
Results:
After adjusting for gender, age, family socioeconomic status (SES) and the number of children in the household, a higher proportion of MVPA was significantly positively associated with both total MS (β = 9.39, p = 0.008) and locomotor skills (β = 6.69, p = 0.003). In a 15-min isotemporal reallocation model, substituting MVPA for other behaviours resulted in significant improvements in both total MS and locomotor skills. Dose-response analysis revealed that reallocating even a small amount of time (e.g., 15 min) to MVPA resulted in meaningful benefits for FMS. Notably, this relationship was asymmetric: The negative impact of reducing MVPA outweighed the gains from increasing MVPA.
Conclusion:
These findings highlight the importance of prioritizing MVPA within the 24-h movement behaviours framework to optimize motor development in preschool-aged children.
