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Introduction:
The importance of physical activity is unquestionable, especially in childhood and
pre-adolescents…
The relationship between motor proficiency and body weight status in children is an
emerging body of research, with little evidence to suggest the direction of causation.
Research has suggested an inverse relationship between body mass index (BMI) and
motor skill performance in childhood and early adolescence (D’Hondt, et al., 2013;
Marmeleira, et al., 2016).
This essay will focus on the discussion the reciprocal causal relationship between
children’s weight status and motor development or lack of thereafter.
of causation:
Motor development; a _____definition_____ is a crucial aspect of a child’s develop
necessary to manage everyday tasks and develop the skills to acquire complex tasks.
Children lacking motor skills are at an increased risk of being physically inactive leading
them to a sedentary lifestyle resulting in increased adiposity. Consequently, decreasing
their likelihood to facilitate motor skill development through PA participation, resulting in
a negative feedback loop (Milne, Leong and Hing, 2016). The strength of the negative
correlation between motor competence and BMI increases up to the age of 11
(Marmeleira, et al., 2016).
OBESITY PRECEDES DECLINE IN MOTOR SKILLS:
Cheng, et al., (2016) conducted a study to investigate the association between
physical activity, levels of motor coordination and BMI in 665 children aged 5-10 years.
The study used a cross-lagged panel model to identify the temporal precedence in the
relationship between motor skills and weight status in the subjects. Findings suggest,
heavier weight status is a precursor more so than a consequence of poor motor skills.
The results also demonstrated that being overweight at the age of 5 was associated
with significant declines on the motor skills at 10 years of age. Overall, the results of this
study indicate excess adiposity inhibits obese children motor development and
exercising motor skills therefore contributing to a decline in motor proficiency relative to
healthy weight children.
(Okely, A.D., Booth, M.L., and Chey, T., 2004) Conducted a study to examine the association of fundamental movement skills and
measures of body composition. Secondary analyses of cross-secntional data from
4,363 children and adoloesncets between grades 4 to 10 were assessed by
observation. ……………….
FMS was assessed based on observation of running, vertical jump, throwing,
catching, kicking and striking,….
.results indicated the ability to participate or perform FMS was significantly realted to
BMI and waist circumference.
Research conducted by D’Hondt, et al., (2013, 2014) also suggests that obese and
overweight children display poorer performance in motor skill demanding tasks and are
less likely to engage in physical activity. The 2-year longitudinal investigation was
focused on understanding the interrelationship between children’s weight status and
level of gross motor coordination. Baseline measurements were collected of 2517
children between the age of 5-12 years of age; although only 754 particiants were
available for the follow-up. The children’s weight status and level of gross motor
coordination factors were assessed using BMI z=score and Korperkoordination fuk
Kinder (KTK) test, respectively. The use of BMI z-score as a measure of the childen
weight status to Similarly, as mentioned by D’Hondt et al., (2014) the use of the
standardized German test battery KTK test as a measure of gross motor skills has been
shown to a highly reliable and valid instrument. The results of this study were two fold,
one conclusion strongly suggests a higher baseline BMI z-score as a predictor or
decreased KTK performance and therefore a delay in the gross motor development of
these children (D’Hondt, et al., 2014). The amount of missing data and differences in the
sample size; baseline (n= 2517) to the final measure (n= 754) was a major drawbacks
of this study as the result may limit the generalizability of the findings. Children with better motor proficiency are more likely to be physically active, and
subsequently have a lower BMI (Marmeleira, et al., 2016). Research has suggested and
confirmed children with higher weight status have greater difficulty performing motor
skills, resulting in lower locomotion competence (Stodden et al., 2008). MOTOR SKILL PRECEDES OBESITY
As mentioned earlier, the study conducted by D’Hondt, et al., (2014), a lower
performance on the KTK at baseline predicted an increase in BMI z-score.
Lopes et al. ???
As suggested by Lopes et al., the level of gross motor coordination significantly predicts
the changes in the subcutaneous adiposity; Fundamental movement skills are critical to participation in most physical activities
(Okely, A.D., Booth, M.L., and Chey, T., 2004)
On the contrary, Martins et al., (2010) concluded that poor motor proficiency at age 5
did not predict obesity or increase in BMI.
Therefore, more research is required to gain a better understanding of the
relationship between the obesity and motor development and the influence of physical
activity.
Influence of Physical activity:
Considering the high prevalence of childhood obesity it is crucial to introduce
interventions to promote physical activity (PA). The development of motor skill
competence is a primary mechanism that promotes the engagement in physical activity;
Marmeleira et al., (2016) study found poor motor skills to be correlated with increased
risk of insufficient engagement in PA. PA is a central component in both the prevention
and treatment of childhood obesity (D’Hondt, et al., 2012). Early childhood obesity
intervention serve a two-fold benefit; increasing physical activity and overall fitness
levels as well as minimizing subsequent decline in children’s motor skills (Cheng, et al.,
2016). Martins et al., (2010) research suggests children who are physically active
demonstrated better motor development; further confirming the inverse correlation between motor competence and weight status (Martins, et al., 2010). As suggested by
Stodden et al., (2008), children’s physical activity may drive their development of motor
skill competence as it provides more oppurtunities to promote neuromotor development
therefore promoting motor skills. Children with lower motor competence typically do not
experience successful experience when they do attempt participating in PA, as a result,
they are less like to be physically active throughout childhood (Stodden, et al., 2008).
Intervention strategies emphasizing increased motor skill proficiency; especially
locomotor skills) may prove to be a key component to prevent ‘unhealthy’ weight gain or
control weight status in children and adolescents (Stodden, et al., 2008).
Conclusion:
As mentioned by Stodden et al., (2008), Obesity is not only a mediating variable in
how motor development skills and PA are related, but also the product of the interaction.
Leading a question forward: What about fine motor skills (fine motor skills and
object control skills)
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