Exploring the Relationship between Fundamental Motor Skills & Physical Activity Levels in Children

PURPOSE: Fundamental motor skills (FMS) are the building blocks for movements used throughout life and its proficiency is correlated with higher levels of physical activity (PA) and decreased incidence of obesity in school-aged children (SC) (5-12 years). However, it is unknown if the same relationship exists in preschool children (PC) (3-5 years). This review aims to evaluate interventions for improving FMS and PA levels in children from 3-5 and 5-12 and determine whether there is a similar relationship between a change in FMS and a change in PA across age groups. METHOD: A systematic search of 7 electronic databases was conducted up until 20th July 2016. Controlled trials that implemented a FMS/PA intervention and qualitatively measured PA levels and FMS in healthy children between the ages of 3-12 years were included. Exclusions included intellectual/developmental delay, or a chronic disease/disability. Sub-analysis was conducted based on the type of intervention (teacher led (TL) or teacher educated (TE)), sessions/week (<3 or ≥3) and age group (PC or SC). Standardized mean difference (SMD), heterogeneity, bias and percentage change (%Δ) were calculated using RevMan 5.3. RESULTS: Search terms yielded 16,576 articles, of which 13 met the inclusion criteria. In total 3,695 children (age 5.6±2.8 years) were studied. On average, interventions ran for 27±15 weeks, 3±2 sessions/week lasting for 41±23 minutes. Seven studies reported significant improvements in at least one measure of FMS or PA. Sub-analysis showed that TL interventions which run ≥3 sessions/week in PC were effective at increasing FMS (SMD=0.26 [0.10, 0.42]; p=0.002), PA (SMD=0.30 [0.10, 0.50]; p=0.003), and moderate-vigorous PA (SMD=0.24 [0.02, 0.46]; p=0.03). However, there was no significant correlation between the %Δ in FMS and %Δ in PA in either age group. CONCLUSION: FMS and PA are both significantly improved by TL interventions run ≥3 sessions/week in preschools. This information should be used in designing future programs to implement in pre-schools. Further research is required on the relationship between change in FMS and PA across childhood, as research is limited.