Interventions to improve fundamental motor skills in pre-school aged children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE
Mastery in -fundamental motor skills (FMS) is associated with increased physical activity (PA) in school-aged children; however, there is limited research on pre-schoolers (3-5 years). We aimed to evaluate interventions for improving FMS as well as PA.


METHODS
A search of electronic databases was conducted for controlled trials using PA interventions with FMS as outcomes in healthy pre-schoolers. Standardised mean difference (SMD), 95% confidence intervals and publication bias were calculated for each outcome using Revman 5.3.


RESULTS
Twenty trials met inclusion criteria. In total, 4255 pre-schoolers were analysed with 854 completing a FMS intervention. Studies were categorised into three groups (i) Teacher-Led (TL)(n=13); (ii) Child-Centred (CC)(n=6) and (iii) Parent-Led (PL)(n=1). Mean age was 4.3±0.4 years, with equal gender distribution. Interventions ran for 21±17 weeks, 3±1 times per week for 35±17 minutes. TL interventions significantly improved overall FMS (SMD=0.14[0.06, 0.21]; p=0.0003), object control (SMD=0.47[0.15, 0.80]; p= 0.004), and locomotor skills (SMD=0.44[0.16, 0.73]; p=0.002), whereas CC interventions were not significant. There was a small, non-significant reduction in sedentary time (SMD=-0.35[-0.80, 0.10]; p= 0.12), and a large non-significant increase in PA (SMD=0.79[-0.83, 2.41]; p=0.34).


CONCLUSIONS
PA interventions improve FMS in pre-schoolers; however, due to limited research, more study is needed on CC interventions. Targeting FMS development in pre-schoolers may promote higher PA levels and reduce sedentary time, however more study is needed.
Department of Exercise Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Abbey
A
Van Capelle
Department of Exercise Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Children's Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia.
Carolyn R
CR
Broderick
Department of Exercise Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Children's Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia.
Nancy
N
van Doorn
Department of Exercise Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Rachel
R
E Ward
Department of Exercise Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: b.parmenter@unsw.edu.au.
Belinda J
BJ
Parmenter
D002675:Child, Preschool; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Children; Fundamental motor skills; Physical activity