Rigó Mariann, Weyers Simone
Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
Children (Basel). 2024 Jul 31;11(8):936. doi: 10.3390/children11080936.
COVID-19 pandemic has influenced all children's motor development. We examine whether this differs by social circumstances. We hypothesise that socially disadvantaged children experienced more pronounced motor problems compared with better-off children.
Our trend study includes three representative waves of preschoolers (school years 2018/19, 2019/20, 2023/24) from a German school enrolment medical screening. Based on logistic regressions, we computed predicted prevalences of motor problems separately for children in different social circumstances (neighbourhood, migration background, family status).
Motor development of preschoolers slightly worsened by 2023 compared to pre-pandemic level (6.3 percent 2018 to 7.4 percent 2023). Results by neighbourhood highlight that preschoolers from well-off districts experienced a deterioration of motor development (4.9 percent 2018-6.4 percent 2023). The prevalence of motor problems is, however, below that of children from deprived neighbourhoods with consistently high prevalence (9.2-10 percent). Results by migration background show a worsening trend for children without migration background and the gap between the groups disappears in 2023. Results by family status do not indicate significant differences.
Contrary to our hypothesis, socially disadvantaged children experienced smaller change in motor problems. However, our results highlight the potential of structured physical activities in daycare centres and sports facilities to enhance the motor development of these children.
新冠疫情影响了所有儿童的运动发育。我们研究了这种影响在社会环境方面是否存在差异。我们假设，与条件较好的儿童相比，社会处境不利的儿童存在更明显的运动问题。
我们的趋势研究包括来自德国入学医学筛查的三批具有代表性的学龄前儿童（2018/19学年、2019/20学年、2023/24学年）。基于逻辑回归，我们分别计算了不同社会环境（社区、移民背景、家庭状况）下儿童运动问题的预测患病率。
与疫情前水平相比，到2023年学龄前儿童的运动发育略有恶化（2018年为6.3%，2023年为7.4%）。按社区划分的结果表明，来自富裕地区的学龄前儿童运动发育出现恶化（2018 - 2023年从4.9%升至6.4%）。然而，运动问题的患病率低于贫困社区儿童，后者患病率一直居高不下（9.2 - 10%）。按移民背景划分的结果显示，无移民背景儿童呈现恶化趋势，且两组之间的差距在2023年消失。按家庭状况划分的结果未显示出显著差异。
与我们的假设相反，社会处境不利的儿童在运动问题方面的变化较小。然而，我们的研究结果凸显了日托中心和体育设施中结构化体育活动对于促进这些儿童运动发育的潜力。
