Age- and Gender-Specific Levels and Differences in Children’s Gross Motor Coordination During Prepuberty

Abstract

Introduction: We are currently observing a decline and deterioration in gross motor coordination in prepubertal children. This also results in deterioration of the overall movement performance. The purpose of this study was to determine sex- and age-specific levels and differences in gross motor coordination among prepubertal children. The somatic parameters included body weight (BW), height (BH), and body mass index (BMI). Methods: The sample included elementary school children aged 7–10 years, who were divided according to their age at annual intervals. A total of 381 pupils (103 seven-year-olds, 104 eight-year-olds, 78 nine-year-olds, and 96 ten-year-olds) from elementary schools in the Presov region participated in the educational experiment. To test the children’s motor coordination, the Körper-Coordination-Test für Kinder, which provides a complex assessment of coordination abilities, was administered: walking backward, hopping for height, jumping sideways (JS; lower-body frequency ability), and moving sideways (MS; complex body coordination). To process the collected data, they were transformed to MQ scores. The statistical characteristics and methods included percentage distributions, arithmetic means and standard deviations, and analysis of variance to compare the four age categories. Results: mean body height and weight increments accounted for 9.54 cm and 7.75 kg between 7 and 10 years of age. Gender differences in the mean motor quotient were significant between boys and girls aged 9–10 years. Motor quotients in both boys and girls decreased with age, and the highest mean motor quotients were found in 7-year-old boys and girls. Of all KTK subtests, motor coordination levels in walking backward and hopping for height decreased, while motor coordination levels in moving sideways and jumping sideways increased as children got older. Conclusions: The findings point to the current level of gross motor skills in preadolescent children with age and sex differences.