High risk for obesity in children with a subtype of developmental coordination disorder.

The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity in typically developing (TD) children, children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and balance problems (DCD-BP), and children with DCD without balance problems (DCD-NBP). Two thousand and fifty-seven children (1095 boys, 962 girls) ages 9-12 years were recruited from 18 elementary schools in Taiwan. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children was used to assess motor coordination ability. International cut-off points for body mass index were used to classify participants into the following groups: normal-weight, overweight or obese. Compared with TD children, children in the DCD-BP group were more than twice as likely to be obese (OR=2.28; 95% CI=1.41-3.68). DCD-BP children were also more likely to be obese compared to DCD-NBP children (OR=1.79; 95% CI=1.02-3.16). Boys in the DCD-BP group were more likely to be obese when compared to DCD-BP girls (OR=3.12; 95% CI=1.28-7.57). Similarly, DCD-NBP boys were more likely to be obese when compared to DCD-NBP girls (OR=2.67; 95% CI=1.21-5.89). Children with both DCD and BP were significantly more likely to be obese when compared to TD and DCD-NBP children. From an intervention perspective, the inclusion of regular physical activity, including activities that encourage development of both balance and energy expenditure, may be required to prevent obesity in this population.

Concurrent validity of Preschooler Gross Motor Quality Scale with Test of Gross Motor Development-2.

Preschooler Gross Motor Quality Scale (PGMQ) was recently developed to evaluate motor skill quality of preschoolers. The purpose of this study was to establish the concurrent validity of PGMQ using Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) as the gold standard. One hundred and thirty five preschool children aged from three to six years were recruited from three kindergartens in central Taiwan. Two independent evaluators who were unaware of each other's results evaluated all the children separately in their kindergartens using standardized setting and procedures. Concurrent validity was examined using correlation analysis with Pearson-Production Moment correlation coefficient. The results show that the total scores (r = .86, p < .001) and subscale total scores (r = .82 for locomotion, r = .76 for object manipulation, p < .001) of the two tests correlated well. Analysis of similar items in the locomotion subscale found significant but weak correlations in the running, jumping and galloping items of the two tests (r = .23-.25, p < .001). There were moderate to high correlations in hopping, sliding and leaping between the two tests (r = .52-.70, p < .001). Low to moderate correlations (r = .37-.54, p < .001) were found between the similar items in the object manipulation subscale of PGMQ and TGMD-2. Total scores of TGMD-2 also showed a high relation between the sum of the locomotion and object manipulation scores of PGMQ (r = .83, p < .001). The total scores of similar items in the locomotion subscale of PGMQ and TGMD-2 showed a similar high relation (r = .79, p < .001) likewise in the object manipulation subscale (r = .75, p < .001) The PGMQ proved to have adequate concurrent validity with TGMD-2.

Obesity and motor coordination ability in Taiwanese children with and without developmental coordination disorder.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between obesity and motor coordination ability in Taiwanese children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD). 2029 children (1078 boys, 951 girls) aged nine to ten years were chosen randomly from 14 elementary schools across Taiwan. We used bioelectrical impedance analysis to measure percentage of body fat (PBF) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children test (MABC test) to evaluate the motor coordination ability. Using cut-off points based on PBF from past studies, boys and girls were divided into obese, overweight and normal-weight groups, respectively. In boys, total impairment scores and scores on balance subtest in the MABC were significantly higher in the obese and overweight groups when compared against the normal-weight group. Girls in the obese and the overweight groups had higher balance impairment scores than those of the normal-weight group. Among boys, the prevalence of obesity was highest in the DCD group, when compared to the borderline DCD and TD boys. A higher percentage of DCD girls were overweight and obese than TD girls. Obesity may be associated with poor motor coordination ability among boys and girls, and particularly in relation to balance ability. Children with DCD may have a higher risk to be overweight or obese in Taiwan.

Development and initial validation of the Preschooler Gross Motor Quality Scale.

Motor skills have great impact on children in adapting to an environment and developing interpersonal interaction, cognition, and social behavior. Understanding what children can do and how they perform it is essential. Most motor tests seldom contain quality evaluation in the items or criteria. The purpose of this study was to develop and construct validity of the Preschooler Gross Motor Quality Scale (PGMQ) that included 17 items in three subscales to evaluate the quality of fundamental motor skills for the preschooler. The study designed PGMQ items and subscales according to well-described procedures, and recruited 174 children, aged 3-6 (89 boys and 85 girls) from 17 kindergartens. Two independent evaluators who were unaware of each other's results evaluated all the children separately in their kindergartens using PGMQ standardized setting and procedures and Gross Motor Scales of Peabody Developmental Motor Scales II (PDMS-II). Results of this study found significant differences between different ages and genders (Wilks'Λ=0.221, p<.001 and Wilks'Λ=0.690, p<.001 respectively). Total scores and raw scores in three subscales of PGMQ increased as age increased. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed three factors, including locomotion, manipulative ability and balance to explain 51.06% of the variance. The correlations between PGMQ and PDMS-II subscales were moderate to high (r=0.544-0.868, p<.01). The results showed satisfactory validity of PGMQ. PGMQ is useful to evaluate the development and quality of fundamental motor skills for the preschoolers.