title: The effectiveness of a community-based fundamental motor skill intervention in children aged 3-8 years: Results of the "Multimove for Kids" project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a 30-week fundamental motor skill program in typically developing young children and to investigate possible sex differences.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multicenter quasi experimental design was set up for this study which involved 992 children aged 3-8 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  All participants received their typical Physical Education curriculum and habitual movement activities. The intervention group (n=523; 53.5% boys) received a weekly 60-min motor skill session provided by trained local instructors in existing child settings; the control group (n=469; 49.7% boys) received no additional practice. Fundamental motor skills were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development, 2nd Edition before and after the intervention. To assess the effect of the intervention and possible sex differences, hierarchical linear regressions analyses were conducted for locomotor and object control gain scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The intervention group demonstrated a higher gain in both locomotor (β=3.78, SE=1.08, p<0.001) and object control (β=4.46, SE=1.06, p<0.001) skills than the control group. Girls demonstrated a lower gain in object control skills (β=-3.50, SE=0.49, p<0.001) and higher gain in locomotor skills (β=1.01, SE=0.44, p=0.022) than boys, regardless of group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated the effectiveness of a wide-scale community-based intervention in typically developing children. The sex differences reported may indicate the need to use different pedagogical and instructional strategies to enable boys and girls to develop and master a wide range of motor skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium. Electronic address: farid.bardid@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Farid
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bardid
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium.
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenoir
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sports Training, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Floris
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huyben
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sports Training, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Martelaer
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seghers
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Sciences, Kinesiology Division, The Ohio State University, USA.
authors.forename: Jacqueline D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Goodway
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium; School of Healthcare Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
authors.forename: Frederik J A
authors.initials: FJA
authors.lastname: Deconinck
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Early intervention; Exercise; Health; Locomotor skills; Object control skills; Sex