Fundamental motor skills, screen-time, and physical activity in preschoolers
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2019
Abstract
PURPOSE: To examine the associations among preschoolers fundamental motor skills, screen-time, physical activity (PA), and sedentary behavior (SB). METHODS: Children ages 3-4years were enrolled in a prospective observational trial of PA. Trained assessors conducted the Test of Gross Motor Development-3rdedition (TGMD-3), and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd edition, and parent-reported child screen-time and sociodemographic information. Children wore an accelerometer for 7days to examine SB and total PA (TPA). TPA was further characterized as moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) or vigorous PA (VPA). Mixed linear models were calculated, controlling for age (for TGMD-3), sex, household income, and accelerometer wear time (for accelerometry models), with childcare center as a random effect. The primary analysis reported on the cross-sectional baseline data of 126 children with complete fundamental motor skill and screen-time data; a subanalysis included 88 children with complete accelerometry data. RESULTS: Children were 3.4 ± 0.5years of age (54% girls; 46% white, 42% African American, 12% other). A total of 48% lived in households at or below the federal poverty level. Children engaged in 5.1 ± 3.6h/day of screen-time. Children's screen-time was inversely related to the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd edition, manual dexterity skills percentile (β (SE) = -1.7 (0.8), = 0.049). In the accelerometry subsample, children engaged in 5.9 ± 0.9h/day of TPA of which 1.7 ± 0.6h/day was MVPA. Boys engaged in more MVPA and VPA and less SB compared with girls (all < 0.05). A higher TGMD-3, total score (β (SE) = 0.4 (0.2), = 0.017) and locomotor score (β (SE) = 0.7 (0.3), = 0.018) were associated with more VPA but not with TPA or MVPA. Screen-time and television in the bedroom were not related to SB, TPA, MVPA, or VPA. CONCLUSION: Children's motor skills were positively related to VPA but inversely related to screen-time. Further inquiry into the implications of high exposure to screen-time in young children is needed.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Journal of sport and health science
First Page
114
Last Page
121
Recommended Citation
Webster, E. K., Martin, C. K., & Staiano, A. E. (2019). Fundamental motor skills, screen-time, and physical activity in preschoolers. Journal of sport and health science, 8 (2), 114-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2018.11.006