Fundamental movement skills training to promote physical activity in children with and without disability: A pilot study

Background: A positive association between fundamental movement skills (FMS) and physical activity (PA) has been shown in previous research of children with and without disability. This pilot study explored a causal mechanism for such relationship, and hypothesized that when FMS proficiency is improved, enhanced PA uptake will be found in children with and without disability. It was further hypothesized that improving FMS proficiency will have a greater impact on children with disability than those without disability. Methods: Participants include typically developing (TD) children without disability and children with cerebral palsy (CP), who were allocated to FMS training groups (CP-FMS n = 12, TD-FMS n = 13) and control groups (CP-C n = 12, TD-C n = 13). Training groups practiced five FMS (run, jump, kick, throw, catch) in weekly 45-min sessions for 4 weeks. Control groups had their regular physiotherapy (CP) or physical education (TD) sessions. FMS were evaluated using process- and product-oriented measures, and PA was measured using accelerometers, before and after training. Results: It was verified that training groups gained improvements in FMS while control groups did not. No significant changes in weekday PA were found. Increased weekend moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was found in the CP-FMS group, while decreased weekend sedentary time was found in the CP-FMS and TD-FMS groups. The percentages of participants who exceeded the minimum detectable change (MDC90) in MVPA and sedentary time were larger in children with CP than in children without disability. Conclusion: The findings suggest that improved FMS proficiency could potentially contribute to heightened PA and decreased sedentary time during weekends for children. Such effect of improved FMS proficiency on PA appears to be greater in those with physical disability than in those without disability. It is recommended that the findings of this pilot study should be further examined in future research