Physical activity and motor skills in children attending 43 preschools: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Little is known about health characteristics and the physical activity (PA) patterns in children attending preschools. The objective of this study was to describe the gender differences in relation to body mass index (BMI), motor skills (MS) and PA, including PA patterns by the day type and time of day. Additionally, the between-preschool variation in mean PA was estimated using the intraclass correlation.

Methods: We invited 627 children 5-6 years of age attending 43 randomly selected preschools in Odense, Denmark. Aiming and catching MS was assessed using subtests of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Second Edition) and motor coordination MS was assessed by the Kiphard-Schilling body coordination test, Körperkoordination Test für Kinder. PA was measured using accelerometry. The PA patterns were analysed using mixed models.

Results: No gender differences in the BMI or norm-referenced MS risk classification, or the average weekly PA level or patterns of PA were observed. However, boys performed better in the aiming and catching score (p < 0.01) and in the motor coordination score (p < 0.05) on average. Girls performed better in the balance subtest (p < 0.001). Relative to the norm-referenced classification of MS, the Danish sample distribution was significantly well for aiming and catching but poorer for the motor coordination test.The total sample and the least active children were most active on weekdays, during preschool time and in the late afternoon at the weekend. However, a relatively larger decrease in PA from preschool to weekday leisure time was observed in children in the lowest PA quartile compared to children in the highest PA quartile. Finally, the preschool accounted for 19% of the total variance in PA, with significant gender differences.

Conclusions: Results of this study could provide a valuable reference material for studies monitoring future trends in obesity, MS and PA behaviour in Denmark and other countries.Knowledge about sources of variation in PA among preschool children is scarce and our findings need to be replicated in future studies. A potentially important finding is the large between-preschool variation in PA, indicating that especially girls are very susceptible to the environment offered for PA during preschool attendance.

Figure 1

Distribution of expected and observed norm-referenced motor skill classification in 5-6 year old children. The motor skill categories are based on the Körperkoordination Test für Kinder (KTK) (1974), and the MABC-2 aiming and catching component score (2005). The figure illustrates a comparison of the expected original norm-referenced motor skill risk-classification (black bars) with the observed Danish sample expressed in percentages. The figure includes data from 563 children 5-6 years old.

Figure 2

Physical activity level across days in preschool children. The p-value refers to a test of the null hypothesis that no difference in physical activity exist between days of the week. Adjustments for the country of birth of the child’s mother. Physical activity is expressed as mean counts per minute with 95% confidence interval. The illustration includes accelerometer data from 194 girls and 192 boys 5-6 years old.

Figure 3

Physical activity during defined time periods and by day type in preschool children. The p-value refers to a test of the null hypothesis that no difference in PA exist between weekday and weekends for the entire day (5 a.m.-24 p.m.), 8 a.m.-4 p.m., and 4 p.m.-8 p.m., respectively. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001. Adjustments for country of birth of the child’s mother. Physical activity is expressed as mean counts per minute with 95% confidence interval. The illustration includes accelerometer data from 194 girls and 192 boys 5-6 years old.

Figure 4

The relative decrease (%) in mean PA between settings, and by PA quartile. The P-value refers to a test of the null hypothesis that no difference in the relative decrease in mean PA exist in the transition from preschool to leisure time during weekdays, and in the transition from weekdays to weekends, respectively, between the categories of the explaining variable in question, being children in the low (quartile 1) to high PA groups (quartile 4). Preschooltime is calculated based on the preschool staff’s daily record of each child’s arrival and departure times. Adjustments for country of birth of the child’s mother. The relative decrease in mean counts per minute between the settings is expressed in percent with 95% confidence interval. The illustration includes accelerometer data from 194 girls and 192 boys 5-6 years old.