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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Available data on the associations between motor
competence (MC) and flexibility are limited and result
inconclusive. This study aims to examine the
relationship between flexibility and MC in children. The
sample comprised 596 Portuguese children (47.1% girls)
aged 9.7± 0.6 years. Motor competence was evaluated
with the body coordination test, Korperkoordination
Test fur Kinder. Cardiorespiratory fitness (20-m shuttle
run), muscular strength (curl-up and push-up tests), and
flexibility (back-saver sit and reach and trunk-lift tests)
were evaluated using the Fitnessgram Test Battery.
Z-scores by age and gender for the physical fitness
tests were constructed. Analysis of variance and
regression analysis were performed. Participants in the
healthy zone groups of both flexibility tests exhibited
significantly better scores of MC than the participants
under the healthy zone (P < 0.001). Back-saver sit and
reach and trunk-lift Z-scores, either individually or as a
sum, were significant predictors of MC (P < 0.05 for
all) after adjustments for the other physical fitness
components, age, body mass index, and socioeconomic
status, in both genders. Our findings highlight the
importance of promoting and developing flexibility, as
well as the other health-related physical fitness
components in schoolchildren to reach adequate levels of MC
Description
Keywords
Schoolchildren Motor competence
Citation
Lopes, Luís; Póvoas, S.; Mota, J.; Okely, A.D.; Coelho-e-Silva, M.J.; Cliff, D.P.; Lopes, Vítor P; Santos, R. (2017). Flexibility is associated with motor competence in schoolchildren. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. ISSN 09057188
Publisher
Blackwell