Change, stability and prediction of gross motor co-ordination in Portuguese children.

BACKGROUND: The knowledge about intra- and inter-individual variation can stimulate attempts at description, interpretation and prediction of motor co-ordination (MC). AIM: To analyse change, stability and prediction of motor co-ordination (MC) in children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 158 children, 83 boys and 75 girls, aged 6, 7 and 8 years, were evaluated in 2006 and re-evaluated in 2012 at 12, 13 and 14 years of age. MC was assessed through the Kiphard-Schilling's body co-ordination test and growth, skeletal maturity, physical fitness, fundamental motor skills (FMS), physical activity and socioeconomic status (SES) were measured and/or estimated. RESULTS: Repeated-measures MANOVA indicated that there was a significant effect of group, sex and time on a linear combination of the MC tests. Univariate tests revealed that group 3 (8-14 years) scored significantly better than group 1 (6-12 years) in all MC tests and boys performed better than girls in hopping for height and moving sideways. Scores in MC were also higher at follow-up than at baseline. Inter-age correlations for MC were between 0.15-0.74. Childhood predictors of MC were growth, physical fitness, FMS, physical activity and SES. Biological maturation did not contribute to prediction of MC. CONCLUSION: MC seemed moderately stable from childhood through adolescence and, additionally, inter-individual predictors at adolescence were growth, FMS, physical fitness, physical activity and SES.

Gross motor coordination and weight status of Portuguese children aged 6-14 years.

OBJECTIVES: To construct age- and gender-specific percentiles for gross motor coordination (MC) tests and to explore differences in gross MC in normal-weight, overweight and obese children. METHODS: Data are from the "Healthy Growth of Madeira Study," a cross-sectional study carried out in children, aged 6-14 years. All 1,276 participants, 619 boys and 657 girls, were assessed for gross MC (Körperkoordinations Test für Kinder, KTK), anthropometry (height and body mass), physical activity (Baecke questionnaire) and socioeconomic status (SES). Centile curves for gross MC were obtained for boys and girls separately using generalized additive models for location, scale and shape. RESULTS: A significant main effect for age was found in walking backwards and moving sideways. Boys performed significantly better than girls on moving sideways. At the upper limit of the distributions, interindividual variability was higher in hopping on one leg (girls) and jumping and moving sideways (boys and girls). One-way ANCOVA, controlling for age, physical activity and SES, indicated that normal-weight children scored significantly better than their obese peers in all gross MC tests. Overweight boys and girls also scored significantly better than their obese colleagues in some MC tests. CONCLUSIONS: These centile curves can be used as reference data in Portuguese children and youth, aged 6-14 years. Being overweight or obese was a major limitation in MC tests and, therefore, of the children's health- and performance-related physical fitness.