Effects of neuromuscular training on psychomotor development and active joint position sense in school children

The Effects of a School-Based Physical Activity Program on Physical Fitness in Egyptian Children: A Pilot Study from the DELICIOUS Project

BACKGROUND

Ensuring the physical fitness of Egyptian children is of paramount importance to their overall well-being, given the unique socio-cultural and educational barriers they face that may hinder their active participation. As part of the DELICIOUS project, the "Be Fit Program" aims to increase the level of physical fitness among Egyptian school-aged children. This study explores the effectiveness of a structured, six-week physical activity (PA) program in improving various facets of physical fitness in children, including body composition, speed, coordination, muscular strength, and cardiovascular endurance. With the increasing prevalence of sedentary lifestyles, such efforts are imperative to improve overall health outcomes.

METHODS

A cohort of 125 children, aged 8.50 to 12.25 y (mean age 10.19 ± 1.03 y), participated in the study. Their body composition, speed, coordination, strength, and aerobic fitness were assessed before and after the Be Fit Program using the revised International Physical Performance Test Profile. Paired t-tests were used to detect changes between the pre- and post-tests.

RESULTS

Following the six-week intervention, statistical analyses revealed significant improvements in coordination and lower body strength (p < 0.01). Aerobic endurance showed marginal improvements, approaching statistical significance (p = 0.06). Conversely, there were no statistically significant changes in body composition, speed, or upper body strength (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The study confirms that tailored, non-competitive physical activities can positively influence specific fitness components in Egyptian children. However, achieving holistic improvements across all targeted fitness domains may require further strategic adjustments or a longer program duration. This pilot study underscores the importance of culturally tailored, school-based PA programs and highlights the continued need for research and program refinement to comprehensively improve children's fitness in the Egyptian context.

Effects of Neuromuscular Training on Physical Performance in Older People: A Systematic Review

This systematic review aimed to assess the available evidence on the effects of neuromuscular training on physical performance in older adults. A literature search was conducted across four databases (Psychology and Behavioral (EBSCO), Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed). The PRISMA guidelines were followed. The PEDro scale and Cochrane risk of bias tool were used to assess the quality of and risk of bias in the studies, respectively. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (code: CRD42022319239). The outcomes were muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, postural balance and gait speed. From 610 records initially found, 10 were finally included in the systematic review, involving 354 older people with a mean age of 67.3 years. Nine of them reported significant changes in at least one variable related to physical performance in the intervention compared to the control groups. The neuromuscular training caused significant improvements in postural balance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness, strength power of the upper and lower limbs and autonomy. The available evidence indicates that neuromuscular training has a positive effect on some variables of physical performance, especially in postural balance; however, the methodological quality and certainty of the evidence in the available literature are limited. Therefore, a greater number of high-quality studies are required to draw definitive conclusions.

Effects of school-based neuromuscular training on fundamental movement skills and physical fitness in children: a systematic review

Objectives

The primary purpose of this review was to clarify the effects of school-based integrated neuromuscular training (INT) on fundamental movement skills and physical fitness in children. The secondary purpose was to examine whether school-based INT intervention is superior to physical education (PE) intervention in enhancing motor skills and fitness.

Methods

A systematic literature search was performed in four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE (EBSCOhost), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The last search was performed on December 21, 2021, and was limited to the English language, human species, and peer reviewed journals. Randomized controlled trials and cluster randomized controlled trials that examine the effects of school-based INT on motor skills and/or fitness in healthy children who were aged up to 14 years old were included. Moreover, studies included in this study should compare school-based INT-induced adaptions with those generated by PE interventions. Studies that involve athletic children and additional exercise training were excluded. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to assess the quality of the study.

Results

Of 1,026 studies identified, seven original trials that meet the inclusion criteria were included in this review. Based on the PEDro scale, the PEDro score of seven studies was between six and eight points with a mean score of 5.29. Among the seven studies included in this study, four studies assessed physical fitness including muscular fitness (n = 4), speed (n = 3), endurance (n = 2), and flexibility (n = 2). Three studies examined the effects of INT on postural control and three studies explored its effects on motor skills. Concerning movement competence, significant and greater improvements in postural control and fundamental motor skills were observed following school-based INT interventions compared to PE intervention in two and three studies, respectively. Regarding physical fitness, neuromuscular training significantly increased muscular fitness, speed, endurance, flexibility in three, two, one, and one studies, respectively. However, only greater improvements in muscle fitness were observed in school-based INT group compared to PE group. The main limitations of this review were the lack of descriptions of training intensity and volume and the low methodological quality of the included studies.

Conclusion

This review provides evidence that school-based neuromuscular training programs are superior to PE lessons in improving postural control, fundamental motor skills and muscular strength. Therefore, INT could be incorporated into traditional physical education classes in school. Trial registration number: CRD42022297349.

The Necessity of a Reduced Version of the Psychomotor Battery to Screen for Learning Difficulties in Preschool Children

Psychomotor development is important for effective learning. Therefore, psychomotor observation is essential beginning in preschool education; however, observational instruments require practice, experience and time-consuming procedures. Psychomotor Battery (PBM) is useful to observe children’s psychomotor profile but needs 30 to 40 min per child to be applied. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to justify the need of a reduced version of the PBM to enable more frequent psychomotor observations at this level of education. A total of 70 preschool students with typical development were observed over 4 months in a school context, among which 31 were males and 39 were females (4- and 5-year-old). PBM is composed by seven psychomotor factors (PMF) distributed across three neuropsychological functional units. The total average of points for psychomotor observations was obtained using multiple linear regression (MLR) with a Stepwise method. For associations, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was used. The results of this study showed that it is possible to reduce the average time of psychomotor observation by 43.7% (13 min and 31 s), maintaining a very strong association with the total average of points obtained. This reduction in observation time may contribute to the increase in psychomotor observations of preschool children using PMB.