Maria Teresa Cattuzzo

Motor competence and health related physical fitness in youth: a systematic review

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to review the scientific evidence on associations between motor competence (MC) and components of health related physical fitness (HRPF), in children and adolescents. DESIGN Systematic review. METHODS Systematic search of Academic Search Premier, ERIC, PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus, SportDiscus, and Web of Science databases was undertaken between October 2012 and December 2013. Studies examining associations between MC and HRPF components (body weight status, cardiorespiratory fitness, musculoskeletal fitness and flexibility) in healthy children and adolescents, published between 1990 and 2013, were included. Risk of bias within studies was assessed using CONSORT and STROBE guidelines. The origin, design, sample, measure of MC, measure of the HRPF, main results and statistics of the studies were analyzed and a narrative synthesis was conducted. RESULTS Forty-four studies matched all criteria; 16 were classified as low risk of bias and 28 as medium risk. There is strong scientific evidence supporting an inverse association between MC and body weight status (27 out of 33 studies) and a positive association between MC and cardiorespiratory fitness (12 out of 12 studies) and musculoskeletal fitness (7 out of 11 studies). The relationship between MC and flexibility was uncertain. CONCLUSIONS Considering the noted associations between various assessments of MC and with multiple aspects of HRPF, the development of MC in childhood may both directly and indirectly augment HRPF and may serve to enhance the development of long-term health outcomes in children and adolescents.

Precisão de conhecimento de resultados na aprendizagem motora em crianças e adultos

O nivel de precisao do conhecimento de resultados (CR) e uma variavel que interfere na aprendizagem de habilidades motoras, mas esse efeito parece ser diferente para adultos e criancas. Este estudo verificou o efeito da precisao do CR em criancas e adultos durante a aprendizagem de uma tarefa manipulativa com meta de precisao. Quarenta universitarios (mulheres = 21.13 ± 2.26 anos; homens = 20.97 ± 2.17 anos) e quarenta criancas (meninas = 9.10 ± .83 anos; meninos = 9.70 ± .48 anos) praticaram uma tarefa de acertar um alvo disposto sobre uma mesa, mediante lancamento de discos metalicos. Foram formados seis grupos experimentais e dois grupos controle (sem CR), cada um com 10 sujeitos. Os grupos experimentais diferiram de acordo com a precisao do CR (CR pouco preciso, CR preciso e CR muito preciso) e o nivel de desenvolvimento (criancas e adultos). A medida de desempenho foi o erro absoluto (EA). Foram utilizadas analises de variância three-way (grupos × idades × blocos) e two-way (grupos × blocos) para as fases de estabilizacao e adaptacao. O conjunto dos resultados permitiu concluir que, nesta tarefa, adultos apresentaram melhor desempenho do que criancas em regimes de baixa e intermediaria precisao; em regimes de alta precisao de CR, adultos e criancas mostraram desempenhos semelhantes.

Association between sports participation, motor competence and weight status: A longitudinal study

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate if baseline motor competence, weight status and sports participation in early childhood predict sports participation two years later. DESIGN longitudinal study. METHODS In 2010, motor competence (object control and locomotor skills), weight status and sports participation were assessed in 292 children between three and five years-of-age. In 2012, sports participation was re-evaluated in 206 of the original 292 children. Logistic regression was implemented to examine if initial sports participation, motor competence and weight status would predict sports participation two years later. RESULTS In the final model, sports participation in 2010 (OR=9.68, CI: 3.46 to 27.13) and locomotor skills (OR=1.21, CI: 1.01 to 1.46) significantly predicted sports participation after two years. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that initial sports participation and more advanced locomotor skills in preschool years may be important to promote continued participation in sports across childhood.

Aprendizagem de uma habilidade motora seriada em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento

Este estudo investigou a aprendizagem de uma tarefa motora seriada em diferentes estagios de desenvolvimento. Quinze criancas, 14 adultos e 13 idosos praticaram a tarefa de rastrear uma sequencia de seis estimulos luminosos durante 10 blocos de tentativas ou ate descobrir a sequencia, constituindo a fase de estabilizacao e mais dois blocos de tentativas, referentes as fases de adaptacao I e II. O desempenho foi mensurado por meio das respostas funcionais e nao-funcionais e das sequencias funcionais. Os resultados indicaram que os adultos foram superiores aos demais participantes, e idosos apresentaram melhor desempenho que criancas apenas no inicio da pratica, sugerindo que o estagio de desenvolvimento interage com o processo de aprendizagem motora.

Participation in sports practice and motor competence in preschoolers

Abstract —Recent theoretical model suggests that motor competence during early childhood is related to one’s current and future health status and that practicing sports seems to be playing a special role in creating such competence. This study aimed to compare performance in gross motor skills among preschoolers participating in regular sports practice (SP) and those not participating (NSP), including comparisons by gender. The study uses secondary data from a popu-lation-based study of performance regarding the locomotor and object control skills of preschoolers (3 to 5 years old). Preschoolers were assigned to groups SP or NSP, paired by age and sex according to skills: locomotor ( n = 54; 30 boys) or object control ( n = 37; 17 boys). Analysis of variance showed that the SP group outperformed the NSP one, and there were gender differences only within SP group. Starting to practice sports during early childhood helps to build motor competence and benefits both genders.Keywords: psychomotor performance, children, sports, physical activity

A influência do gênero e idade no desempenho das habilidades locomotoras de crianças de primeira infância

In early childhood the performance of locomotor skills is expected to be improved in with advancing age. Differences between boys and girls due to the specificity of motor task may exist. This study aimed to analyze the locomotor skills performance of children regarding age and gender. The locomotor performance of 389 preschool children from three to five years from the city of Recife - PE was evaluated by TGMD-2. The results showed that: older children outperformed the younger ones; in general, the boys outperformed the girls in the skills to run, horizontal jump, slide and in the locomotor total score, and the girls had a better performance in the skill to hop at five years; at the analysis of the progression of motor development, more complex motor behaviors occurred after those considered less complex. It is concluded that the locomotor development of preschoolers from Recife followed the principles of progressivity and complexity, however, boys and girls showed differences on the performance depending on the task.

Questionable use of performance testing to predict success in soccer players: comment on Ljach, et al. (2012).

This commentary addresses a prior article by Ljach, et al. (2012) on the topic of talent identification and development in soccer. Despite the potential usefulness of their findings to organize training processes, the predictability of performance testing in talent identification for soccer remains unclear.

Effects of temporal stimuli in the acquisition of a serial tracking task.

This study investigated the effects of temporal stimuli on qualitative responses during the acquisition of a serial tracking task. One hundred and twenty young adult men performed 100 trials of a tracking task that consisted of touching six response keys in a given sequence in response to flashing light-emitting diodes in order to identify and learn the serial pattern. Six experimental groups were created with diverse inter stimuli intervals (ISI): G1: ISI = 300 ms; G2: ISI = 400 ms; G3: ISI = 500 ms; G4: ISI = 600 ms; G5: ISI = 700 ms; and G6: ISI = 800 ms. Performance was assessed by means of four types of responses: omission, error, correct, and anticipatory responses. The results showed differential effects of temporal stimulus uncertainty in the hierarchy of responses as the learning course progressed.

Comparison of motor competence levels on two assessments across childhood.

ABSTRACT This study compared performances and motor delay classifications for the Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd edition (TGMD-2) and the Körperkoordinationstest Für Kinder (KTK) in a sample of 424 healthy children (47% girls) between 5 and 10 years of age. Low-to-moderate correlations (r range = 0.34–0.52) were found between assessments across age. In general, both boys and girls demonstrated higher raw scores across age groups. However, percentile scores indicated younger children outperformed older children, denoting a normative percentile-based decrease in motor competence (MC) in the older age groups. In total, the TGMD-2 and KTK classified 39.4% and 18.4% children, respectively, as demonstrating very low MC (percentile ≤5). In conclusion, the TGMD-2 classified significantly more children with motor delays than the KTK and the differences between children’s motor skill classification levels by these assessments became greater as the age groups increased. Therefore, the TGMD-2 may demonstrate more susceptibility to sociocultural influences and be more influenced by cumulative motor experiences throughout childhood. Low-to-moderate correlations between assessments also suggest the TGMD-2 and KTK may measure different aspects of MC. As such, it may be important to use multiple assessments to comprehensively assess motor competence.

Physical characteristics that predict involvement with the ball in recreational youth soccer.

ABSTRACT This study examined the relative contribution of age, stage of puberty, anthropometric characteristics, health-related fitness, soccer-specific tests and match-related technical performance to variance in involvements with the ball during recreational 5-a-side small-sided (32 × 15 m) soccer matches. Using a cross-sectional design, 80 healthy male students (14.6 ± 0.5 years of age; range 13.6–15.4) who played soccer recreationally were randomly divided into 10 teams and played against each other. Measurements included height, body mass, pubertal status, health-related fitness (12-min walk/run test, standing long jump, 15-m sprint and sit-ups in 30 s), soccer-specific tests (kicking for speed, passing for accuracy and agility run with and without a ball), match-related technical performance (kicks, passes and dribbles) and involvements with the ball during matches. Forward multiple regression analysis revealed that cardiorespiratory fitness (12-min walk/run test) accounted for 36% of the variance in involvements with the ball. When agility with the ball (zigzag running) and power (standing long jump) were included among the predictors, the total explained variance increased to 62%. In conclusion, recreational adolescent players, regardless of their soccer-specific skills, may increase participation in soccer matches most through physical activities that promote improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle power and agility.