Battaglia Giuseppe, Giustino Valerio, Tabacchi Garden, Alesi Marianna, Galassi Claudia, Modica Carmen, Palma Antonio, Bellafiore Marianna
Department of Psychological, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Sport and Exercise Science Research Unit, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Front Sports Act Living. 2020 Dec 16;2:579421. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2020.579421. eCollection 2020.
Many studies reported a positive relationship between motor skills, cognitive functions, and school performance in school-age children; however, little is known in preschool children. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a physical education program (PEP) on locomotor, object control skills, and pre-literacy cognitive functions in a wide population of preschoolers and verify whether weight status could influence these abilities. In the context of the Training-to-Health Project, a sample of 1,029 preschoolers was recruited in kindergartens from the urban area of Palermo (Italy). Their gross motor and pre-literacy skills were tested before (PRE) and after (POST) following 16 weeks (2 h/week) of a PEP, which included ludic-motor activities aimed at developing body awareness and fundamental motor and perceptual-sensory skills. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed to assess the skills before and after the intervention and to evaluate the effect of different categories of weight status on the examined variables. Regression analyses were conducted to confirm the hypothesized interrelationship between motor and pre-literacy skills in the considered sample. Both locomotor/object control and pre-literacy skills were significantly higher in children after the PEP ( < 0.05). We found 23% of overweight children and no significant difference between weight status classes in both PRE and POST PEP groups. In the POST group, higher locomotor and object control skills were mostly associated with better pre-literacy skills. This study shows that PEP was effective in improving both motor and pre-literacy skills in preschoolers independently from age and gender, while weight status did not affect these skills suggesting that this program can be administrated indifferently in children with different categories of weight status. Therefore, PEP could be a decisive education strategy to enhance motor and cognitive learning in preschool children and to achieve successful academic outcomes.
许多研究报告了学龄儿童的运动技能、认知功能和学业成绩之间存在正相关关系；然而，对于学龄前儿童，人们了解的却很少。本研究的目的是证明体育教育计划（PEP）对广大学龄前儿童的运动能力、物体控制技能和读写前认知功能的有效性，并验证体重状况是否会影响这些能力。在“健康训练项目”的背景下，从意大利巴勒莫市区的幼儿园招募了1029名学龄前儿童作为样本。在进行了为期16周（每周2小时）的PEP课程前后，对他们的大肌肉运动和读写前技能进行了测试，该课程包括旨在培养身体意识以及基本运动和感知觉技能的游戏性运动活动。进行方差分析（ANOVA）以评估干预前后的技能，并评估不同体重状况类别对所检查变量的影响。进行回归分析以确认所考虑样本中运动技能和读写前技能之间的假设相互关系。在接受PEP课程后，儿童的运动/物体控制能力和读写前技能均显著提高（<0.05）。我们发现有23%的超重儿童，并且在PEP课程前后的两组中，体重状况类别之间没有显著差异。在课程后的组中，较高的运动和物体控制技能大多与较好的读写前技能相关。本研究表明，PEP能有效提高学龄前儿童的运动和读写前技能，且不受年龄和性别的影响，而体重状况并不影响这些技能，这表明该计划可以对不同体重状况类别的儿童一视同仁地实施。因此，PEP可能是一种决定性的教育策略，可增强学龄前儿童的运动和认知学习，并取得成功的学业成果。
