Motor Competence and Health-related Fitness of School-Age Children: A Two-Year Latent Transition Analysis

Is it possible to identify physical-motor profiles of preschool children on their association with selected biosocial factors?

Biosocial factors play a crucial role in the physical-motor development (PMD) of children during the preschool age. The present study aims to identify physical-motor profiles throughout preschool age (3-6 years) and explore associations between profiles and selected biosocial factors such as age, sex, prematurity, weight, height, BMI, and participation in extracurricular physical activities. Data from 412 typically developing children (46.6% girls and 53.4% boys), aged 35-71 months (M = 51.21, SD = 10.47) was collected using the Psychomotor Activities Checklist and specifically the scale of Psycho-Motor Aspects. Cluster analysis made it possible to define four different childhood PMD profiles. High PMD; High PMD except left laterality; medium-low PMD; and low PMD. High PMD profile includes older children, with anthropometric measurements closer to the WHO recommendations, fewer preterm children, and greater participation in extracurricular physical activities. Low PMD profile includes younger children, with weight slightly above and height slightly below the WHO recommendations and low participation in extracurricular physical activities. This study allows us to identify specific trends that may be decisive for the motor development of children throughout preschool age, highlighting selected biological variables and participation in extracurricular physical activities.

Changes in the continuous leaping performance of Finnish adolescents between 1979 and 2020

The aims of this secular trend design study were: 1) to investigate whether the continuous leaping performance of Finnish adolescents (mean age 14.99 ± .61 years) changed between 6 data sets collected between 1979 and 2020, and 2) to analyse if variation in leaping performance increased from 1979 to 2020. The data for this secular trend study of 6 cohorts were collected in 1979 (n = 599), 1995 (n = 498), 1998 (n = 796), 2003 (n = 2383), 2010 (n = 1383), and 2020 (n = 719). All cohorts performed the 5-leaps test, following the same protocol. Between-cohort differences in scores were analysed using a General Linear Contrast Model. Between-cohort differences in variance were tested using Chi-square-based between-group tests. Sex, age, and BMI were used as covariates in the secular trend analyses. Continuous leaping performance demonstrated a decreasing trend in both girls and boys. Specifically, girls' scores were stable between 1979 and 1995, decreased from 1995 to 2010 and remained stable thereafter. Boys leaping performance improved from 1979 to 1995, was stable until 2003, and had declined by 2020. Within-group variation in continuous leaping was greater in girls and boys during the first decades of the 21st century than previously.