Determinants of variability in motor performance in middle childhood: a cross-sectional study of balance and motor co-ordination skills

BACKGROUND

Physical activity is a key component of exploration and development. Poor motor proficiency, by limiting participation in physical and social activities, can therefore contribute to poor psychological and social development. The current study examined the correlates of motor performance in a setting where no locally validated measures of motor skills previously existed. The development of an appropriate assessment schedule is important to avoid the potential misclassification of children's motor performance.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among a predominantly rural population. Boys (N = 148) and girls (N = 160) aged between 8 and 11 years were randomly selected from five schools within Kilifi District in Kenya. Four tests of static and dynamic balance and four tests of motor coordination and manual dexterity were developed through a 4-step systematic adaptation procedure. Independent samples t-tests, correlational, univariate and regression analyses were applied to examine associations between background variables and motor scores.

RESULTS

The battery of tests demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. Variability in motor performance was significantly associated with a number of background characteristics measured at the child, (gender, nutritional status and school exposure) household (household resources) and neighbourhood levels (area of residence). The strongest effect sizes were related to nutritional status and school exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study provides preliminary evidence of motor performance from a typically developing rural population within an age range that has not been previously studied. As well as being culturally appropriate, the developed tests were reliable, valid and sensitive to biological and environmental correlates. Further, the use of composite scores seems to strengthen the magnitude of differences seen among groups.

Physical fitness of normal, stunted and overweight children 6-13 years in Oaxaca, Mexico

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to compare the growth and physical fitness of normal, stunted and overweight/obese (owt/ob) Oaxaca children 6-13 years.

SUBJECTS/METHODS

This study was a cross-sectional, included 688 school children (grades 1-3, 4-6), aged 6-13 years, from an indigenous rural community (n=361) and colonia popular (n=327) in Oaxaca, southern Mexico.

MEASUREMENTS

Anthropometry-weight, height, sitting height, limb circumferences, skinfolds. Derived-body mass index, sitting height/height ratio, leg and step lengths, limb muscle areas, sum of skinfolds. Physical fitness-sit and reach, sit-ups, distance run, grip strength, standing long jump, 35 yard dash. Physical activity-steps to and from school, household chores, sports participation.

ANALYSIS

Normal-not stunted, not owt/ob; stunted-not owt/ob; and owt/ob-not stunted were compared with multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for age. Two children were stunted and owt/ob, and were excluded.

RESULTS

Age-adjusted means for body size, muscularity, adiposity and grip strength showed a gradient, owt/ob>normal>stunted in both sexes and grade levels (P<0.001). Relative position of stunted and owt/ob children was reversed for strength per unit mass. Stunted and normal children ran a greater distance than owt/ob children (P<0.05). Normal, stunted and owt/ob children did not differ consistently in other fitness items and indicators of activity and inactivity.

CONCLUSION

Size, muscularity, fatness and strength differed significantly, owt/ob>normal>stunted, but owt/ob children had less strength per unit mass and poorer endurance. Normal and stunted children did not differ consistently in fitness. Physical activity and television time did not differ among the three groups.

Habitual physical activity and body composition of black township adolescents residing in the North West Province, South Africa

Objective

It is known that stunting and obesity affect a large proportion of children in the world, and these can be affected by the physical activity levels of the children. In the present study, we evaluated the association between physical activity, physical development and body composition in black adolescent children.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Black township schools in the North West Province, South Africa.

Methods

Three-hundred and thirteen grade 8 children were included in the Physical Activity in Youth study. Anthropometric measurements, body composition measures and maturity level as assessed by Tanner stages were determined in these children. In addition, Previous Day Physical Activity Recall questionnaires were administered on the children to record the various activities they undertake daily.

Results

The demographic characteristics of the children showed a high level of homogeneity. A high prevalence of stunting (16.3%) was observed in the children, which was higher in boys than in girls (21.6 vs. 12.3%). Also prevalent was overweight/obesity (8.6%), but this was higher in girls than in boys (13.4 vs. 1.6%). The children also showed a reduction in levels of physical activity with advancement in maturity; furthermore, boys showed a more central form of fat deposition whilst girls showed more gynoid deposition.

Conclusions

The study revealed that physical activity plays a role in determining body composition, and further indicated that physical activity is associated with favourable body composition measures. Children who were more active were likely to have less fat deposits.

Biocultural construction of obesogenic ecologies of childhood: Parent-feeding versus child-eating strategies

Human biologists recognize the centrality of parental feeding beliefs and related practices in structuring children's under-nutrition risk in food-insecure settings. By contrast, how they might similarly structure children's nutrition-related health risks in calorically rich ecologies has barely been considered. Using the case of 3- to 6-year-old children in a rural Southeastern U.S. community with very high obesity rates, we use cognitive methods such as consensus analysis to determine how parental cultural models of child eating and feeding are linked to high calorie, obesogenic child diets. We find that parental models are very consistent with biomedical understandings (reduce fat, reduce sugar, portion control, etc.). Regardless, children's diets are extremely high in calories overall as well as in high sugar and fat food items. We suggest three likely and mutually reinforcing contributing factors to persistent and increasing early childhood overweight and obesity: parents' ambivalence about modeling healthy eating, children's active resistance, and the balance of parents' social against nutritive goals at meal times. The active role of children as social architects of their own biology has been little explored in human biological studies, and should provide novel and important understandings of the biocultural construction of childhood over-nutrition.

Biocultural aspects of obesity in young Mexican schoolchildren

Obesity related to over-nutrition is investigated in a sample of 219 Mexican children from affluent families, ages 6-12 years. Defined as weight-for-age at or above the 95(th) percentile, obesity rates in middle childhood are very high in this population, being 24.2% of children (29.4% of boys and 19.1% of girls). Binary logistic regression shows that children are more likely to be obese if they are boys, from small households with few or no other children, and have more permissive, less authoritarian parents. Diet at school and activity patterns, including television viewing, are not different for boys and girls and so do not explain this gender variation. The value placed on children, especially sons, in smaller middle-class families, can result in indulgent feeding because food treats are a cultural index of parental caring. Parents also value child fatness as a sign of health. These obese Mexican children have no greater social problems (peer rejection or stigma) or psychological problems (anxiety, depression, or low self esteem) than their non-obese peers. More study specifically focused on feeding practices in the home environment is required to explain very high rates of child obesity. The differences in obesity risk related to specific aspects of children's developmental microniche emphasize the importance of including a focus on gender as a socio-ecological construct in human biological studies of child growth, development, and nutrition.

Caretakers, child care practices, and growth failure in highland Ecuador

Problems for child health have been attributed to child and sibling caretaking. Nevertheless, our data from highland Ecuador suggest an ambiguous relationship between growth failure and the practice of peer care. In a region where levels of chronic undernutrition as measured by stunting exceed 75 percent and fully one-quarter of children under five are underweight, analysis of structured observations of a sample of 28 children reveals no statistical association between growth indices and the practice of older children caring for younger children. Qualitative data, however, indicate that the practice can be a complication in specific cases where children already suffer compromised health. While the advantages or disadvantages associated with particular caretakers appear secondary to the risks attending inadequate diets or the broader environment of rural poverty, the potential for difficulties to emerge from peer care suggests that community day care provides a valuable alternative in this context.

Food consumption, activity, and overweight among elementary school children in an Appalachian Kentucky community

In the U.S., child overweight is on the rise and is implicated in later adult chronic illness. Given that overweight is hardly tractable, prevention as compared to treatment is seen as a better alternative for lowering the risk of long-term health consequences. To increase the success of prevention efforts, many argue that programs must be "culturally sensitive and targeted toward specific populations at greater risk. However, there exists a limited understanding of how overweight is distributed across the landscape, among and within populations and groups. This paper reports the prevalence of overweight among 54 school children in a rural, Appalachian community with a high rate of poverty, and it compares boys to girls. Thirty-seven percent of boys and 10.3% of girls are overweight, based on the 90th percentile body mass index (BMI). Analysis of food intake indicates a pattern of food consumption that is high in fatty and sugary foods and low in fruit and vegetable consumption. Analysis of activity indicates that children report more low-intensity activity than high; that overweight children report more episodes of video/computer play compared to nonoverweight children; and that boys spend more time than girls in front of the computer/television screen.