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Failure to master age-appropriate fundamental movement skills (FMS) at a young age can limit motor skill competence affecting health. Assessments often have issues with feasibility and implementation in a field setting. As such, the purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and feasibility of the Athletic Skills Track (AST), in a pre-school setting. For the validation study sixty-five 3–6 year old children (25 boys and 40 girls) from five pre-schools across Adelaide, Australia participated. Correlations and linear regression analysis (adjusted for age and gender) were used to investigate the association between the time to complete the AST and the raw score of the Test of Gross Motor Development 2 (TGMD-2). For the feasibility study pre-school staff completed a semi-structured interview regarding the feasibility of the AST. The AST took less than a minute per child and the TGMD-2 around 20 minutes for two children. There was a strong negative correlation (r = −0.63, p < 0.01) between the AST scores and the TGMD-2 scores. All five staff reported strengths of the AST to be its short administration time, setup and appropriateness. These results suggest that the AST could be a feasible and valid method of FMS assessment in Australian pre-schools. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Objectives The aim of the presented study is to provide age- and gender-related normative values and MQ values for a motor skills test, the Athletic Skills Track, among 4- to 12-year-old children. Design Cross-sectional. Methods In 2016, a total of 7977 Dutch children, 4036 boys (mean age 8.6 years, SD 2.1) and 3941 girls (mean age 8.6 years, SD 2.1), performed an age-related version of the Athletic Skills Track (AST). The AST is a track consisting of 5–7 fundamental movement skill tasks that should be completed as fast as possible. The children performed the test during a regular physical education (PE) lesson under the supervision of their own PE teacher. For each version of the AST (AST-1: n = 917; AST-2: n = 3947; AST-3: n = 3213) age- and gender-related reference centiles were derived from the gathered data using the Lambda, Mu, Sigma (LMS) method. Results All children completed the AST within 60 s (mean 29.6 s, SD 7.7). An independent samples t-test showed that boys were significantly faster in completing the track than girls, except for the 4-year-old boys. Therefore, age- and gender-related reference centiles were derived. The reference curves demonstrate an almost linear decrease in time to complete AST-1 and AST-2 with increasing age. Conclusions The present study provides age- and gender-related normative values and MQ values for the AST among 4- to 12-year-old Dutch children. With these normative values PE teachers can interpret children’s performance on the AST.

Successful implementation of interventions to stimulate active school transportation (AST) requires better understanding of this behavior. This study explored the associations between Parental Active Transportation Routines (PATRns) and children’s AST use, as well as the role of PATRns as a moderator of the association between the neighborhood characteristics and parental influences and AST. The study sample consisted of 722 8- to 12-year-old children and their parents living in the Netherlands. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed, with the frequency of AST use as the dependent variable. Moderation by PATRns was tested by including interaction terms between PATRns and independent variables in the regression equation, and stratified analyses were conducted as a result of significant interactions. PATRns were a positive correlate of AST and were found to moderate the association between both parental facilitation of child physical activity and stranger danger and the use of active transportation, emphasizing the relevance of PATRns in increasing AST use. © 2015 SAGE Publications.

This study examined the relationship between the physical environment characteristics of primary schools and active school transport among 3,438 5- to 12-year-old primary school children in the Netherlands. The environmental characteristics were categorized into four theory-based clusters (function, safety, aesthetics, and destination). The correlations between the clusters and active school transport were examined, and multilevel regression analyses were used to examine the association between the clusters and active school transport. No correlations were found between environmental clusters and active school transport for younger children (age 5-9), but for older children (age 9-12), strong positive correlations were found between aesthetics and active transport as were found for safety and active transport. School neighborhood aesthetics were related to active transport for older primary school children. Presence of parks, good maintenance of green spaces, and absence of litter in the school environment contributed most to the positive association between aesthetics and active school transport. © 2014 SAGE Publications

The aim of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of a school-centered multicomponent PA intervention, called ‘Active Living’, on children's daily PA levels. A quasi-experimental design was used including 9 intervention schools and 9 matched control schools located in the Netherlands. The baseline measurement took place between March–June 2013, and follow-up measurements were conducted 12 months afterwards. Accelerometer (ActiGraph, GT3X +) data of 520 children aged 8–11 years were collected and supplemented with demographics and weather conditions data. Implementation magnitude of the interventions was measured by keeping logbooks on the number of implemented physical environmental interventions (PEIs) and social environmental interventions (SEIs). Multilevel multivariate linear regression analyses were used to study changes in sedentary behavior (SB), light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) between baseline and follow-up. Finally, effect sizes (ESs) were calculated using Cohen's d. No pooled effects on PA and SB were found between children exposed and not exposed to Active Living after 12 months. However, children attending Active Living schools that implemented larger numbers of both PEIs and SEIs engaged in 15 more minutes of LPA per weekday at follow-up than children in the control condition (ES = 0.41; p < .05). Moreover, children attending these schools spent less time in SB at follow-up (ES = 0.33), although this effect was non-significant. No significant effects were found on MVPA. A school-centered multicomponent PA intervention holds the potential to activate children, but a comprehensive set of intervention elements with a sufficient magnitude is necessary to achieve at least moderate effect sizes.

BACKGROUND: The worldwide increase in the rates of childhood overweight and physical inactivity requires successful prevention and intervention programs for children. The aim of the Active Living project is to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary behavior of Dutch primary school children by developing and implementing tailored, multicomponent interventions at and around schools. METHODS/DESIGN: In this project, school-centered interventions have been developed at 10 schools in the south of the Netherlands, using a combined top-down and bottom-up approach in which a research unit and a practice unit continuously interact. The interventions consist of a combination of physical and social interventions tailored to local needs of intervention schools. The process and short- and long-term effectiveness of the interventions will be evaluated using a quasi-experimental study design in which 10 intervention schools are matched with 10 control schools. Baseline and follow-up measurements (after 12 and 24 months) have been conducted in grades 6 and 7 and included accelerometry, GPS, and questionnaires. Primary outcome of the Active Living study is the change in physical activity levels, i.e. sedentary behavior (SB), light physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and counts-per-minute (CPM). Multilevel regression analyses will be used to assess the effectiveness of isolated and combined physical and social interventions on children's PA levels. DISCUSSION: The current intervention study is unique in its combined approach of physical and social environmental PA interventions both at school(yard)s as well as in the local neighborhood around the schools. The strength of the study lies in the quasi-experimental design including objective measurement techniques, i.e. accelerometry and GPS, combined with more subjective techniques, i.e. questionnaires, implementation logbooks, and neighborhood observations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN25497687 (registration date 21/10/2015), METC 12-4-077, Project number 200130003.

Changes in the neighborhood environment may explain part of the rapid increase in childhood overweight and obesity during the last decades. To date few theory-driven rather than data-driven studies have explored longitudinal associations between multiple neighborhood characteristics and child body weight development. We aimed to assess the relationship between physical, social and perceived safety related characteristics of the neighborhood and Body Mass Index (BMI) development in children during early school age, using a longitudinal design. We included an examination of moderating and confounding factors based on a conceptual model adapted from the EnRG framework (Environmental Research framework for weight Gain prevention) and empirical research. Analyses included 1887 children from the KOALA Birth Cohort Study followed from baseline age 4-5 years until 8-9 years. For children age 4-5 years, parents completed a questionnaire measuring characteristics of the neighborhood. Reliability and factor analyses were used to identify constructs for neighborhood characteristics. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between neighborhood constructs and BMI z-scores cross-sectionally at age 4-5 years and longitudinally using Generalized Estimating Equations with BMI z-scores over 5 repeated measurements until age 8-9 years. Fourteen constructs were identified and grouped in three domains including perceived physical, social, or safety related characteristics of the neighborhood. Cross-sectionally, a lower BMI z-score was associated with higher perceived physical attractiveness of the neighborhood environment (standardized regression coefficient (β)-0.078, 95% CI-0.123 to-0.034) and a higher level of social capital (β-0.142,-0.264 to-0.019). Longitudinally, similar associations were observed with potentially even stronger regression coefficients. This study suggests that BMI in children is mainly related to the modifiable physical and social environment of the conceptual model and not related to safety as perceived by parents. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

De gemeente Den Haag heft sinds 2010 zeven outdoor fitness locaties aangelegd om haar inwoners meer te laten bewegen. Maar worden deze 'fitplaatsen' wel gebruikt? En wat zijn de randvoorwaarden en succesfactoren voor gebruik van de Haagse fitplaatsen?