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Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study

Environment, physical activity (PA) and motor development are tightly interwoven during childhood. We examined the associations of environmental factors with motor competence (MC) in children. Children (N = 945, 50.1% boys, age = 3–7 years, mean = 5.4 years) from 37 childcare centres in the Southern...

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Autores principales: Niemistö, Donna, Finni, Taija, Haapala, Eero A., Cantell, Marja, Korhonen, Elisa, Sääkslahti, Arja
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6604002/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31167487
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111989
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author Niemistö, Donna
Finni, Taija
Haapala, Eero A.
Cantell, Marja
Korhonen, Elisa
Sääkslahti, Arja
author_facet Niemistö, Donna
Finni, Taija
Haapala, Eero A.
Cantell, Marja
Korhonen, Elisa
Sääkslahti, Arja
author_sort Niemistö, Donna
collection PubMed
description Environment, physical activity (PA) and motor development are tightly interwoven during childhood. We examined the associations of environmental factors with motor competence (MC) in children. Children (N = 945, 50.1% boys, age = 3–7 years, mean = 5.4 years) from 37 childcare centres in the Southern (n = 17), Central (n = 13) and Northern Finland (n = 7) participated. The environmental factors comprised the geographical location (Southern, Central and Northern Finland) and residential density (metropolitan area, city, rural area and countryside) of the childcare centres’ based on postal codes and the national population density registry. MC was measured using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD)-3, as well as by quantifying time spent outdoors and participation in organised sports via parental questionnaire. It was found that children from the countryside had better MC and spent most time outdoors, while children from the metropolitan area most frequently engaged in organised sports. Gender comparisons revealed that girls outperformed boys in locomotor skills, while boys were better in object control skills, had higher TGMD-3 score and spent more time outdoors. Time spent outdoors and participation in organised sports were associated positively with MC, but not in children from the countryside. In conclusion, higher population density was associated with lower MC and less time spent outdoors. The findings suggest that versatile outdoor environments may support motor development through PA.
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spelling pubmed-66040022019-07-19 Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study Niemistö, Donna Finni, Taija Haapala, Eero A. Cantell, Marja Korhonen, Elisa Sääkslahti, Arja Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Environment, physical activity (PA) and motor development are tightly interwoven during childhood. We examined the associations of environmental factors with motor competence (MC) in children. Children (N = 945, 50.1% boys, age = 3–7 years, mean = 5.4 years) from 37 childcare centres in the Southern (n = 17), Central (n = 13) and Northern Finland (n = 7) participated. The environmental factors comprised the geographical location (Southern, Central and Northern Finland) and residential density (metropolitan area, city, rural area and countryside) of the childcare centres’ based on postal codes and the national population density registry. MC was measured using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD)-3, as well as by quantifying time spent outdoors and participation in organised sports via parental questionnaire. It was found that children from the countryside had better MC and spent most time outdoors, while children from the metropolitan area most frequently engaged in organised sports. Gender comparisons revealed that girls outperformed boys in locomotor skills, while boys were better in object control skills, had higher TGMD-3 score and spent more time outdoors. Time spent outdoors and participation in organised sports were associated positively with MC, but not in children from the countryside. In conclusion, higher population density was associated with lower MC and less time spent outdoors. The findings suggest that versatile outdoor environments may support motor development through PA. MDPI 2019-06-04 2019-06 /pmc/articles/PMC6604002/ /pubmed/31167487 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111989 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Niemistö, Donna
Finni, Taija
Haapala, Eero A.
Cantell, Marja
Korhonen, Elisa
Sääkslahti, Arja
Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study
title Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study
title_full Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study
title_fullStr Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study
title_full_unstemmed Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study
title_short Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study
title_sort environmental correlates of motor competence in children—the skilled kids study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6604002/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31167487
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111989
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