Structured training on gross motor skills and physical fitness in 4-5-year-old children.

OBJECTIVE

Preschool children are in a period of rapid physical development, and improving their gross motor skills and physical fitness is quite important for their health. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a structured physical training program in improving Chinese preschool children's gross motor development and physical fitness.

METHOD

A sample of 80 children aged 4 to 5 from Fujian, China, were randomly assigned to the intervention group ( = 41), which received a 15-week structured physical training, while the control group ( = 39) continued with their daily physical activity. The Test of Gross Motor Development-3, and the National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards Manual -Preschool Children Version (2003) were assessed before and after the intervention.

RESULTS

A series of ANCOVA analyses revealed significant group differences in aspects of gross motor skills ( = 10.17,  < 0.01) including locomotor skills ( = 5.31,  < 0.05) and ball skills ( = 15.09,  < 0.001) after controlling the effect of the age, sex, and pre-test scores. Moreover, the results also indicated a higher improvement in young children's physical fitness ( = 91.33,  < 0.001) including their body shape ( = 5.05,  < 0.05), health-related fitness ( = 43.09,  < 0.001), and skill-related fitness ( = 61.47,  < 0.001) in the intervention group over the control group. The results demonstrated that the effect size of the structured training on young children's health-related fitness (  = 0.38) and skill-related fitness (  = 0.50) was much stronger than on children's body shape (  = 0.07).

CONCLUSION

The structured training program effectively improved young children's gross motor skills and physical fitness.