Search

Addressing physical literacy (PL) has become increasingly relevant to counteract sedentary behaviour in children and youth. We developed an assessment tool to measure and evaluate the promotion of individual PL and its four subdomains: motivation and confidence (the affective dimension), physical competence (physical dimension), knowledge and understanding (cognitive dimension), and participation in physical activity. Within this cross-sectional study, we tested 567 children aged 6–12 years from four primary schools that differed in socioeconomic status (SES). A subsequent exploratory factor analysis conducted to examine the conformity revealed a five-factor structure. The five factors explained 39.8% of the total cumulative variance. Children with a low SES yielded lower scores in all subdomains except participation in physical activity. This effect was most pronounced in motor skills (p < 0.001, r = 0.28). Among the children with a low SES, 16.9% were overweight and 17.4% were obese, compared to 11.5% and 5.4%, respectively, for those with a high SES (p < 0.001). In conclusion, although the assessment tool was largely in line with the postulated structure, further adjustments are necessary in terms of participation and motivation. Nevertheless, this holistic view of PL, taking SES into account, should enable the focused promotion of health and health literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical inactivity and being overweight increased in children, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Additionally, a decrease in motor performance has been increasingly reported; however, there is a lack of meaningful data on the relationship between these findings and socioeconomic status. Therefore, we examined the BMI, BMI z score, the prevalence of overweight/obesity, and motor performance (based on lateral jumping, the standing long jump, and the 6-min run) among three cohorts from timelines before (2016) and during the pandemic (2020, 2021), using a cohort sequential design. Our analysis revealed that all parameters examined showed a significant negative trend over time. For children with a low social burden, the trend was statistically detectable only for lateral jumping and the 6-min run. For children with a high social burden, the prevalence of overweight/obesity increased from 4.2% to 5.4% between 2016 and 2021. The prevalence of being underweight also increased from 3.4% to 4.3% during this time. Motor performance decreased from 11.3% to 12.3%, except in the standing long jump. Children with a high social burden showed significantly lower results (7.4% to 9.6%). Thus, our data confirm an increase in both measurements of overweight/obesity and underweight, as well as a decrease in motor performance under the pandemic conditions, especially in children from socioeconomically deprived backgrounds. These findings affirm the urgent need for action regarding health promotion measures, especially for children with high social burdens.