Influence of Bouts of Physical Activity on Motor Ability in 4- to 5-Year-Old Children

Hiroshi Akitake；Tatsuya Mimura；Masakazu Nadamoto；Keiko Abe；Kan-ichi Mimura

幼兒運動遊戲年刊

9期（2016 / 02 / 01）

80 - 81

英文

Background: Current public health guidelines recommend that young children accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on a day in many counties (Strong et al., 2005; WHO, 2005). Additionally, Mark et al. (2009) reported that moderate -to-vigorous physical activity took place in bouts conferred benefits on adiposity status. To our knowledge, however, it is unclear whether there is any positive association between motor ability and bouts of physical activity. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between motor ability and bouts of physical activity in Japanese preschool children (n= 76, 36 boys and 40 girls). Methods: We measured the subjects' motor ability while performing 6 activities (25-m sprint, broad jump, tennis -ball throw, continuous jump over, body support duration, and ball catch). The performance in each activity was rated on a 5-point scale (5-1), and the total fitness scores were divided into 5 categories (A-E), as suggested by Japanese previous study. Daily physical activity was assessed using Lifecoder EX accelerometers (Suzuken, Japan) throughout the day for 7 consecutive days. LC7-9 intensity assessed moderate-vigorous physical activity. Analyses were conducted sporadic session (1 - 4 minutes) of MVPA, short bouts (5- 8 minutes) of MVPA, and medium-to-long bouts (≥9 minutes) of MVPA. Results and Discussion: LC7-9 (minutes/day) was 25.3±7.5 in boys and 18.2±7.3 in girls on weekday and 14.3 ± 9.7 in boys 13.6 ± 8.3 in girls on weekend, respectively. The total fitness scores were weakly but significantly positively correlated with medium-to-long bouts of MVPA. It was suggested that increased medium-to-long bouts of physical activity may have contributed to improve the motor ability in preschool children.