Young children's motor skill performance: Relationships with activity types and parent perception of athletic competence

ObjectivesThe aims were to examine the relationship between children's motor skill levels and types of physical activities performed during preschool attendance, and to examine the relationship between motor skill performance and parent perception of athletic competence.DesignCross-sectional.MethodsParticipants were 264, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children from 22 preschools. Locomotor and object control skills were assessed with a standardized motor skill protocol. Direct observation (OSRAC-P) was used to record activity types: walk, run, jump/skip, dance, and throw. Parents rated their child's athletic competence. Children were categorized into tertiles for locomotor and object control scores. Mixed models were used to test for differences across motor skill tertiles for each aim. Models controlled for sex, age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and parent education, with preschool as a random variable.ResultsChildren in the highest locomotor tertile engaged in more dancing than children in the lowest tertile (p = 0.04). Children in the highest object control tertile engaged in throwing more frequently than children in lower tertiles (p < 0.05). Parents of children in the highest locomotor tertile perceived their children's competence as higher than parents of children in lower tertiles (p < 0.05). Parents of children in the lowest object control tertile perceived their children's competence as significantly lower than parents of children in higher tertiles (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThese findings point to the need for policy and practice research to help parents and child care professionals provide opportunities for young children to learn and practice motor skills.