The main aim of the present study was to identify motor difficulties in Greek preschoolers. Secondary aims were to identify possible differences in prevalence of motor difficulties related to gender, age, body mass index, place of residence, and hand preference. 302 preschoolers were assessed using the first age band (3-6 years) of the Movement…

The worldwide increase in childhood overweight and obesity underscores the need to study variables like fundamental movement skill (FMS) levels from early childhood. This study investigated the bidirectional longitudinal relationship between body mass index (BMI) and process-oriented FMSs, including locomotor skills and object control skills in…

The main objective of this study was to examine the existence of Relative Age Effect (RAE) and analyze the effect of gender on Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) of preschool children aged 4-5 years old. A total of 298 healthy preschool children were evaluated. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) was used to evaluate preschoolers' FMS. The…

Discernment of possible sex-based variations in presentations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms is limited by smaller female samples with ASD and confounds with ASD ascertainment. A large national cohort of individuals with autism, SPARK, allowed parent report data to be leveraged to examine whether intrinsic child characteristics and…

This study analyzed the factorial structure of motor competence tests designed to evaluate motor development among adolescents, focusing on the two main dimensions of coordination and motor control. To this end, we randomly sampled 1,026 adolescents (45.3% males; 45.7% females, age 13.75 years, SD = 1.28). Participants completed the…

"Research Findings:" The present study aims to investigate the relationship between physical fitness and visuomotor integration in young children. A total of 242 three- to six-year-old preschoolers were randomly selected from a preschool in Shenzhen, China and their visuomotor integration and physical fitness were evaluated using the…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) generally have a delay in the development of motor skills when compared to typical children, however, to date, no study has investigated whether motor limitations can interfere in the participation of these children. The objectives of this study were: verify if the motor skills can explain the…

Purpose: This study examined the speech acoustic characteristics of Jamaican Creole (JC) and English in bilingual preschoolers and adults using acoustic duration measures. The aims were to determine if, for JC and English, (a) child and adult acoustic duration characteristics differ, (b) differences occur in preschoolers' duration patterns based…

One hundred and twenty-one children (58 boys and 63 girls) aged 8-14 years (mean ± SD = 12 ± 1 years) who were regularly engaged in grassroots soccer participated in this study. Participants undertook assessments of fundamental movement skill (FMS) using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3, perceived ability using the Perceived Physical Ability…

There is a rapidly growing trend in Western countries to offer preschool education in nature. More information is urgently needed on whether the use of nature as a learning environment has beneficial or debilitating effects on the development of children's general school readiness skills. This study examined the differences in parent-reported…

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the follow-through on thrown ball velocity, potentially justifying inclusion of the follow-through in Roberton's five critical components. Method: Seventy-eight University students participated in the overarm, dominant hand, throwing task, which involved throwing a standard tennis…

This study aimed to examine associations between gross motor skills and executive functions (EF) in a large sample of Australian preschool-aged children. Of 566 children (mean age = 3.2 ± 0.4 years, 51.2% girls), locomotor, object control, and total skill competence were significantly associated with visual spatial working memory and inhibition (p…

Multiple domains develop simultaneously and interact throughout infancy and early childhood. Although relationships between motor and language skills have been examined cross-sectionally during the first three years of life, little is known regarding the individual factors that influence the development of these domains as well as the relationship…

Research on motor learning frequently reports gender differences. However, there seems to be limited tools in the research with which to make use of these insights in educationally relevant ways. Movement learning and gender are intensely researched in movement education research, but the issues rarely intersect in the literature. The purpose of…

Youth with visual impairments often show difficulties with gross motor skills regardless of age or sex. Gross motor skills support positive developmental trajectories for health warranting the need for assessment. The Total Body Developmental Sequences (TBDS) are fast, easy-to-use, indices of gross motor development with relatively unknown…