Associations of physical activity and cognitive function with gross motor skills in preschoolers: Cross-sectional study

2021/03/18 by Ângela Alves Viegas, Vanessa Amaral Mendonça, Juliana Nogueira Pontes Nobre +9 · 7 citations
Psychology · Medicine · #Children's Physical and Motor Development #Infant Development and Preterm Care #Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues

paper · doi:10.1080/00222895.2021.1897508

Abstract

Gross motor development in the preschool phase depends on several factors that remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate whether level of habitual physical activity (HPA) and global cognitive function (CF) can be used as predictors of gross motor skills in Brazilian preschoolers and to verify their possible mediators. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 166 children, aged 3-5 years. Gross motor skills, HPA, CF and possible mediators (e.g., sex, prematurity) were evaluated. Preschoolers with little HPA, low CF, and girls were more likely to have gross motor performance below expected, but female gender did not mediate HPA or CF. Therefore, HPA and CF, in addition to females, may be independent predictors of delayed gross motor skills in Brazilian preschoolers.

Citations

• Validity and Reliability of the TGMD-2 for Brazilian Children

Cited by

• Physical environmental opportunities for active play and physical activity level in preschoolers: a multicriteria analysis. [europepmc]
• Association between executive functions and gross motor skills in overweight/obese and eutrophic preschoolers: cross-sectional study. [europepmc]
• Environmental opportunities facilitating cognitive development in preschoolers: development of a multicriteria index. [europepmc]
• Overweight/obesity and socio-demographic disparities in children's motor and cognitive function. [europepmc]
• Development of gross motor skills in children under the age of 3 years: a decision tree approach. [europepmc]
• Getting an Active Start: Assessing the Impact of a Physical Literacy-Based Intervention on Preschool-Aged Children's Fundamental Movement Skills, Motor Competency and Behavioral Self-Regulation. [europepmc]
• The interrelationships between developmental domains in 3- to 6-year-olds with fine and gross motor developmental risks-results of a prospective dynamic cohort study. [europepmc]

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