Effects of an 8-Week Active Play Intervention on Body Composition and Fundamental Motor Skills in Preschool Children

Abstract

Objective: Examine the effect of an 8-week teacher-guided active play intervention on preschoolers’ body composition and fundamental motor skills. Methods: Participants were from two local preschool centers randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 25, 3.91 ± 0.53 years) or the control group (n = 25, 3.69 ± 0.81 years). All measures were assessed at baseline (week 0), post-intervention (weeks 9–11), and follow-up (weeks 30–33). Bioelectrical Impedance assessed body composition (fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM)). The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, Second Edition (PDMS-2) assessed fundamental motor skills (gross motor quartile (GMQ)). Results: A significant Group × Time interaction for GMQ at post-intervention (p = 0.03), with the intervention group scoring significantly higher on GMQ. A significant main effect of Time (p p p p = 0.003) and follow-up (p p Conclusions: Results indicate that active play interventions might be a successful pathway to improve gross motor skills in young children. Further research is needed to understand the effect that active play interventions have on body composition in preschoolers.

Keywords

• development
• early childhood education
• physical activity
• randomized control trial