Minghetti Alice, Donath Lars, Zahner Lukas, Hanssen Henner, Faude Oliver
Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Department of Intervention Research in Exercise Training, German Sport University, Cologne, Germany.
PeerJ. 2021 Apr 27;9:e11292. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11292. eCollection 2021.
Intergenerational exercise possesses the potential to becoming an innovative strategy for promoting physical activity in seniors and children. Although this approach has gained attraction within the last decade, controlled trials on physical and psychosocial effects have not been performed yet.
Sixty-eight healthy preschool children (age: 4.9 y (SD 0.7)) and 47 residential seniors (age: 81.7 y (7.1)) participated in this five-armed intervention study. All participants were assigned to either an intergenerational (IG), peer (PG) or a control group (CON). Children were tested on gross motor skills (TGMD-2), jump performance and handgrip strength. Social-emotional skills questionnaires (KOMPIK) were assessed by kindergarten teachers. Seniors performed the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), including gait speed. Arterial stiffness parameters were also examined. Questionnaires assessing psychosocial wellbeing were filled in with staff. IG and PG received one comparable exercise session a week lasting 45 minutes for 25-weeks. CON received no intervention. Measurements were performed before and after the intervention.
In children: IG improved all measured physical parameters. When adjusted for baseline values, large effects were observed in favor of IG compared to CON in TGMD-2 (Cohen's =0.78 [0.33;1.24]) and in handgrip strength ( = 1.07 [0.63;1.51]). No relevant differences were found in KOMPIK between groups (-0.38<≤0.14). In seniors: IG showed moderate to very large improvements in all main physical performance (0.61<≤2.53) and psychosocial parameters (0.89<≤1.20) compared to CON.
IG children showed large benefits in motor skills compared to CON while IG seniors benefit especially in psychosocial wellbeing and functional mobility necessary for everyday life. Intergenerational exercise is comparable and in certain dimensions superior to peer group exercise and a promising strategy to integratively improve mental health as well as physical fitness in preschool children and residential seniors.
代际运动有潜力成为促进老年人和儿童身体活动的创新策略。尽管这种方法在过去十年中受到了关注，但尚未进行关于身体和心理社会影响的对照试验。
68名健康学龄前儿童（年龄：4.9岁（标准差0.7））和47名老年居民（年龄：81.7岁（7.1））参与了这项五组干预研究。所有参与者被分配到代际组（IG）、同龄人组（PG）或对照组（CON）。对儿童进行了大肌肉运动技能（TGMD-2）、跳跃成绩和握力测试。幼儿园教师评估了社会情感技能问卷（KOMPIK）。老年人进行了简短身体功能测试（SPPB），包括步速测试。还检查了动脉僵硬度参数。工作人员填写了评估心理社会幸福感的问卷。IG组和PG组每周进行一次时长45分钟、为期25周的类似运动课程。对照组不接受干预。在干预前后进行测量。
在儿童中：IG组改善了所有测量的身体参数。在根据基线值进行调整后，与对照组相比，IG组在TGMD-2（科恩效应量=0.78[0.33；1.24]）和握力（=1.07[0.63；1.51]）方面观察到有利于IG组的显著效果。各组在KOMPIK方面未发现相关差异（-0.38<≤0.14）。在老年人中：与对照组相比，IG组在所有主要身体功能（0.61<≤2.53）和心理社会参数（0.89<≤1.20）方面显示出中度到非常大的改善。
与对照组相比，IG组儿童在运动技能方面有很大益处，而IG组老年人尤其在心理社会幸福感和日常生活所需的功能活动能力方面受益。代际运动与同龄人组运动相当，并且在某些方面优于同龄人组运动，是一种综合改善学龄前儿童和老年居民心理健康以及身体素质的有前景的策略。
