The Association Between 7-To-10-year-old Children’s Leisure-time Physical Activities and Their Motor Behavior in a Virtual Playground Environment

Background: Previous studies have shown mixed results for the relationship between physical activity experiences and gross motor development. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential association between children’s level of engagement in selected leisure-time physical activities (active transport, sports, and play) and their emergent gross motor behavior measured in a virtual-reality playground environment. Study Sample: To this end, 247 children aged 7–10 years old (girls: n = 127; boys: n = 120) participated. Reserach Design & Data Collection: Children were provided with a three-minute playground scenario in virtual reality, developed for free exploration, play, and with the possibility to move around without specific instructions. An inertial motion capture system was used to assess motor behavior in the playground, and the children’s levels of engagement in weekly leisure-time physical activities were obtained through a parental questionnaire. Results: Correlation and principal component analysis were used to investigate the joint movement variability in the upper and lower body, while t-tests were applied to examine the potential differences in playground motor behavior and engagement in leisure-time physical activities. In statistical comparisons of children with high or low weekly activity rates, children with the highest levels of weekly engagement in play and active transport were found to have significantly higher upper-body movement variability. However, no other significant differences were found between high and low levels of leisure-time physical activity in terms of emergent motor behavior in the virtual reality playground. Conclusion: These findings emphasize the value of considering multiple dimensions of children’s leisure-time physical activities when studying its relation to the development of motor control and coordination in middle childhood.