Required : Complete and review this document with your trainer, coach, or administrator. Apply Apply. Healthy Kids, Health Future Activity Get ideas about how to incorporate physical activity into preschoolers' day.
Demonstrate Demonstrate. Assessment :. Yes, it would be a good idea to have your son evaluated by a pediatrician: He might have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. No, boys are just really active. He will outgrow this behavior eventually. No, there is no need to discuss this issue with your pediatrician. Instead, you need to set stricter rules for behavior. Preschool children need lots of time for physical activity.
This is how they learn about their bodies and about the world around them. It is always a good idea to discuss concerns with your pediatrician; however, movement and preschool children go hand-in-hand.
Q2 Your teaching partner is planning activities that will strengthen fine-motor skills. Jumping onto mats. Stringing beads, cutting and painting. Running through a basic obstacle course. Q3 True or false? Berk, L. Child Development 9th ed.
Next Lesson. Physical activity is fundamental to the early development of each child and affects many aspects of a child's health [ 1 ]. Contemporary health organizations propose that higher levels of physical activity in school-aged children are associated with important short- and long-term health benefits in physical, emotional, social, and cognitive domains across the life span [ 2 — 4 ].
As such, it is vital to integrate physical activity into the lives of children and set the foundation in facilitating and maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle throughout adulthood [ 5 ]. It has been reported that more than 41 million young children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in , worldwide [ 6 ]. The health implications of physical activity during early childhood cannot be disregarded; therefore, it is warranted to investigate the relationships between physical activity and health outcomes and cognition in early ages.
Although early childhood represents a critical period to promote physical activity, the long-term health benefits of being physically active from early ages have yet to be confirmed [ 7 ]. It is suggested that promoting physical activity in early childhood may help develop motor skills [ 8 ].
This postulation is echoed by evidence showing a reciprocal relationship, albeit cross-sectionally, between physical activity and motor development [ 9 — 12 ]. In fact, motor skills in young children are considered to be linked with various health outcomes such as adiposity [ 13 ], self-esteem [ 14 ], cardiorespiratory fitness [ 15 ], and cognition [ 16 ], among others.
Hence, developing and implementing effective interventions to improve young children's motor skills have become a priority. As studies examining the effects of physical activity on motor skills continue to increase in frequency, a more recent and thorough review is needed. Although a review study on the topic is available from [ 17 ], the authors failed to include only randomized controlled trials RCTs , indicating cause-effect relationships cannot be inferred.
In addition, the article defined preschool-aged children as aged under 5 years old, which is quite different from national or international interpretation. Therefore, the effectiveness of physical activity interventions on motor skills in this population is still unclear. Today, advances in neuroscience have generated substantial progress in connecting physical activity to brain structure and cognitive development [ 18 ].
It is hypothesized that physical activity has a positive effect on cognitive functions, which is partly due to the physiological changes in the body. For example, increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor BDNF can facilitate learning and maintain cognitive functions by improving synaptic plasticity and serving as a neuroprotective agent, which leads to improved neuroelectric activity and increased brain circulation [ 19 ].
It is also suggested that one's motor skills may influence cognitive development given that motor and cognitive skills have several common underlying processes, including sequencing, monitoring, and planning [ 20 ]. In addition, both motor and cognitive skills may have a similar developmental timetable with accelerated development during childhood [ 21 ]. In fact, the literature consistently reports that increased physical activity time in school has no detrimental effect on academic performance and may even enhance academic attainment, executive functions, and on-task behaviors in children and adolescents [ 19 , 22 — 25 ].
In addition, emerging evidence suggests that active children tend to have better health and cognitive outcomes when compared to their less active peers [ 7 ]. While interest in the relationship between exercise and cognitive functioning has grown over the past decade, the literature concerning the benefits of physical activity on cognition has been addressed in research with older children or adults for the most part.
Regrettably, to date, there has been no known comprehensive review specifically examining the effectiveness of physical activity on cognitive outcomes in early childhood. Early childhood is the most critical and rapid period of complete and healthy motor and cognitive development in human life [ 26 ]; increased physical activity may provide motor and cognitive benefits across childhood and adolescence [ 17 , 27 ].
Therefore, gaining a better understanding of physical activity's potential in improving motor skills and cognition in young children is critical and can inform pediatricians and other health professionals regarding its efficacy as an intervention strategy. There is an urgent need to synthesize RCT studies to definitively establish the presence of effects of physical activity on motor skills and cognitions as well as identify the dose-response relationships for the population of preschool children.
Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to systematically evaluate the available evidence examining the effects of physical activity on motor skills and cognitive development in healthy preschool children. Specifically, this systematic review aims to identify, synthesize, and interpret the best available evidence for minimal and optimal amounts of physical activity needed to promote motor skills and cognitive development among children aged 4—6 years. Further, this review attempts to help inform scholars and health professionals concerning the benefits of regular physical activity participation and the development of evidence-based physical activity guidelines for this age group.
For the purposes of this review, the terms to be used throughout the paper are defined as follows:. Physical activity: any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure [ 3 ], including exercise, active games, and sports programs. Motor skills: learned sequences of movements that are combined to produce a smooth, efficient action in order to master a particular task [ 29 ].
Different categories of motor skills are distinguished in the current review, including fine and gross motor skills, locomotor and object control skills, and body coordination. Notably, the categories are not exclusive, and as such, motor skills from one category may contain elements of other categories [ 16 ]. Cognition: the set of mental processes of acquiring knowledge and understanding that contribute to perception, memory, intellect, and action [ 18 ].
Preschool children: according to Kail [ 30 ], preschoolers are defined as between 4 and 6 years of age. The literature search was conducted by the coauthors as a collaborative effort of the research team. Other study designs, such as cohort and observational studies, were retrieved but excluded in the analysis. If the reviewers were unable to determine the relevance of an article to the topic, then the abstract was evaluated.
Data extraction was completed by one reviewer MA and checked by another NZ for accuracy. A list of published articles on the topic was then created in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The following information was extracted: 1 year of publication and country of origin; 2 methodological details e.
Finally, relevant studies were further identified through cross-referencing the bibliographies of selected articles. Notably, reviewers were not blinded to the authors or journals, and no attempts were made to contact study investigators or correspondents to acquire any information missing from the included articles. To assess the risk of bias in each study, two reviewers MA, NZ independently rated each study on an 8-item quality assessment tool see Table 1 used in previous literature [ 31 — 33 ].
Two reviewers MA, NZ separately scored each study to ensure reliable scoring of the quality assessment. Unresolved differences were evaluated by a third reviewer ZG when disagreements occurred between the two reviewers.
A study was considered high-quality study design when scored above the median score following the scoring of all studies. A total of articles were identified through a search of the databases. After removing duplicates, titles and abstracts of the remaining articles were screened and further identified as potentially meeting the inclusion criteria.
An additional 2 studies were located through the search of reference lists. Following a thorough assessment of the full-text articles, 15 studies fully met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review see Figure 1. Reasons for excluding articles included ineligible age, special populations, no measures of motor skills and cognitive development, and non-English language articles. Many studies were excluded for multiple reasons.
The characteristics of the included studies are shown in Table 2. Among the 15 RCTs, 10 examined the effects of physical activity on motor skills [ 34 — 43 ] and five assessed the impact of physical activity on cognitive development [ 27 , 44 — 47 ]. The studies were conducted in different countries: 5 in Australia [ 37 , 38 , 43 , 45 , 46 ], 4 in the United States [ 35 , 41 , 42 , 44 ], 2 in Switzerland [ 36 , 47 ], 2 in the United Kingdom [ 27 , 40 ], 1 in Canada [ 34 ], and 1 in Finland [ 39 ].
Among these studies, 10 were conducted in childcare center [ 34 — 38 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 46 ], 3 were conducted in school settings [ 27 , 44 , 47 ], 1 was conducted at home [ 39 ], and 1 was conducted in a laboratory setting [ 42 ]. Notably, most of the studies were published after , except for three studies that were published in [ 40 ], [ 44 ], and [ 41 ], indicating research concerning physical activity interventions on motor skills and cognitive development in preschool children is a young, yet expanding, scientific field.
In addition, a relatively large variability in sample size and intervention was observed across studies, with the sample varying from 40 to and intervention length ranging from 4 weeks to 12 months. The measurement tools used for motor skill and cognitive development outcomes varied across studies but were typically assessments directly completed by children or direct observations made by trained research assistants.
Fine and gross motor skills, locomotor and object control skills, executive function, attention, and memory were the most commonly assessed measures of motor performance and cognitive outcomes. Given the heterogeneity of exposures and outcomes, a meta-analysis was unattainable. In this review, all included studies were activity-based interventions.
Following the ratings of the 8-item quality assessment tool, the design quality and risk of bias for each study were rated from 5 to 8 see Table 1. The most common issues with the study quality and risk of bias were related to follow-up measurements, power calculations for appropriate sample sizes, and missing data interpretation.
Various types of instrument were used to measure motor skills and cognitive functioning. Notably, measurement tools used for motor skills and cognitive functioning varied across studies.
Typically, assessments were directly completed by children or through direct observations made by trained research assistants. Although different instruments were used across various studies, validities of these assessments have been proven when being applied to preschool children in school setting Table 1. Notably, one study [ 42 ] had mixed findings, observing remarkable enhancements on several variables i.
Although significant changes in other outcome measures were not seen between the study groups, there were trends towards greater improvements in the intervention group compared to the control group [ 42 ]. It is also worth noting that not all included studies support the effectiveness of physical activity on motor skill development. A governmentally led physical activity program failed to promote any beneficial motor performance outcomes i. The researchers of this particular study highlighted the complexity of implementing physical activity interventions outside of a study setting and urge future similar studies to improve on existing programs [ 36 ].
Five studies investigated the effects of physical activity on cognitive development in preschool children. Measurements of cognition considered a wide range of cognitive outcomes, including language, academic achievement, attention, working memory, and executive functioning. Amidst these studies, four demonstrated positive effectiveness of activity-based interventions on cognitive functioning while one failed to find significant improvements following a multidimensional lifestyle intervention.
In addition, a school-based intervention suggested that children who participated in aerobically intense physical education had significant increases in aspects of cognition and executive functioning when compared to their peers exposed to standard physical education, indicating that the greater degree of neural plasticity of young children may have the most to gain from increased physical activity [ 27 ].
Similarly, two studies found that cognitive outcomes were highest in the integrated condition involving task-relevant physical activities and higher in the nonintegrated condition involving task-irrelevant physical activities than in the control condition involving the predominantly conventional sedentary style of teaching [ 45 , 46 ].
Notably, cognitive functioning in this study was assessed as a secondary outcome. The purpose of the current study was to comprehensively evaluate all published RCTs regarding the effects of physical activity on motor skills and cognitive development in apparently healthy preschool children, as well as to provide a synthesis of the current evidence regarding cause and effect relationships.
Fifteen studies were included for the final analysis. Overall, the present systematic review confirms the effectiveness of physical activity; however, the findings were based on a small number of included studies. More studies with larger sample sizes, therefore, are warranted. Early childhood is considered a critical time period for establishing healthy behaviors such as physical activity [ 48 ].
Physical activity programs provide young children with the milieu for motor skill development, with motor skills being the foundation for physical activity during early years and subsequent years [ 38 ].
Young children today are showing insufficient proficiency in their motor skills [ 49 ]. Indeed, early childhood settings play a significant role in the promotion of physical activity participation and motor skill development since these settings generally have the resources to implement physical activity and motor skill programs [ 48 , 50 ]. What do you say to her about this? Hauf, P.
Psychological Research, — Lokken, G. Mayes, L. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33 , Ward, M. Infant Mental Health Journal, 21 6 : Waters, E. Child Development, 71 3 , Zeanah, C. Handbook of infant mental health 2nd ed. New York: The Guilford Press. Secondary tabs Objectives :. Examine the importance of physical activity in your own life.
Describe physical development of infants and toddlers. Recognize ways physical development affects other areas of development.
Learn Learn. Know Take a moment to think about activities you participate in regularly. Select a Scenario. Physical development is connected to cognitive development thinking skills in infants.
Physical development is connected to cognitive development thinking skills in toddlers. Infant motor development is connected to emotional development. Motor development is connected to social development in toddlers. Video not available Watch this video to learn how physical development is linked to other areas of development.
Explore Explore. Supporting Physical Development Reflect on the importance of physical development. Required : Complete and review this document with your trainer, coach, or administrator. Apply Apply. Overcoming Barriers to Being Active How likely are you to agree with these popular excuses to not exercise?
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