The effect of motor skills training on physical activity in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Abstract

Regular physical activity (PA) contributes to the development of physical and psychological well-being in children. The mastery of motor skills is considered one of the potential factors that facilitate PA engagement. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are foundations for developing context-specific movements. Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) exhibit delays in motor skills including FMS and experience restrictions in PA participation. However, few studies have examined whether improvements in FMS proficiency promote PA engagement in children with DCD. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of FMS training on PA in children with DCD when compared to typically developing (TD) children. METHODS: Participants consist of 84 children (7-10 yrs) who were allocated into either FMS training (22 DCD-FMS, 17 TD-FMS) or control group who underwent regular physical education lessons (16 DCD-C, 29 TD-C). FMS training was conducted in a school setting for six weeks, twice per week and 35 minutes per session. FMS were tested using the Test of Gross Motor Development-Second edition. PA was subsequently monitored using accelerometers over seven consecutive days. Each participant attended all scheduled tests three times (i.e., before intervention, 1-week post intervention, 6-week post intervention). Repeated-measured ANCOVA was used to determine the intervention effect utilizing baseline scores and other key confounders as covariates. RESULTS: The DCD-FMS group scored significantly better in jumping (1-week: 6.09±1.85 vs. 3.69±1.99, p<0.05) and catching (1-week: 5.23±0.87 vs. 4.19±1.64, p<0.05; 6-week: 5.45±0.72 vs. 4.31±1.58, p<0.05) than the DCD-C group. The TD-FMS group scored significantly poorer in jumping (1-week: 5.41±1.84 vs. 6.52±1.70, p<0.05) than the TD-C group. The DCD-FMS group showed significantly lower PA volume (393.06±64.50 vs. 431.72±87.53 counts/min, p<0.05) and spent more time in sedentary pursuits (52.54±6.55 vs. 50.40 ±7.22%, p<0.05) in the follow-up test than in the posttest. No significant difference in PA levels was found among groups. CONCLUSION: Children with DCD improved their FMS proficiency after receiving FMS training. However, the improvements in FMS performance in children with DCD did not transfer into improving their PA participation.