title: Benefits of early development of eye-hand coordination: evidence from the LOOK longitudinal study.
abstract: We investigated longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between eye-hand coordination (EHC) and cardiorespiratory fitness (multistage run), physical activity (pedometers), percent body fat (%BF, dual energy x-ray absorptiometry), body image, and organized sport participation (questionnaires) in 406 boys and 384 girls at 8 and 10 years of age. EHC was measured by a throw and wall-rebound catch test involving 40 attempts of increasing difficulty. Median EHC improved during two years from 18 to 32 (boys) and 9 to 24 (girls), and gender differences and improvements were both significant (P < 0.001). Cross-sectional analyses showed that boys and girls with better EHC were fitter (P < 0.001), and a longitudinal relationship showed that girls who improved their EHC over the two years became fitter (P < 0.001). There was also evidence that children with better EHC possessed a more positive body image (P = 0.05 for combined sex data), but there was no evidence of any relationships between EHC and %BF or PA (both P > 0.3). Finally, even at age 8 years, boys and girls participating in organized sport possessed better EHC than non-participants. These data provide evidence for the premise that early acquisition of this single motor skill promotes the development of a child's fitness, body image, and participation in sport.
authors.affiliation: Medical School, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia; Academic Unit of Internal Medicine, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Telford
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Telford
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Olive
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Abhayaratna
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D001315:Australia; D001828:Body Image; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: body image; children; motor skill; percent body fat; physical activity; sport