Exploring the importance of diversified physical activities in early childhood for later motor competence and physical activity level: a seven-year longitudinal study

Physical activity (PA) is part of a healthy lifestyle as it reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and other non-communicable diseases later in life [1]. Current recommendations state that children and adolescents should participate in at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day [2]. Globally, 78% of adolescent boys and 84% of adolescent girls (age 11–17) did not meet this recommendation in 2010 [3], in addition to this, PA levels for both sexes decrease with age [4]. Further, the transition from childhood to adolescence is associated with a decline in PA [5]. There have been reports suggesting that PA levels peak around age 12 [6] and then decline as individuals age [7‐9]. It is essential to explore factors that determine participation in PA among adolescents in order to increase their PA. One understudied aspect to consider is the participation in different physical activities through childhood which may improve the ability to participate in a more broad range of activities later in life through improved motor competence (MC) and more specific skills, but also through experiences in different types of PA, including gained knowledge and understanding (e.g. on how to engage in different activities and settings) and through increased confidence and motivation towards PA [10, 11]. To reduce terminology inconsistencies and align with other research in the field, the terminology ‘motor competence’ is used in this paper as a global term to describe goal-directed human movement [12, 13].

MC have been shown to be related to PA levels and fitness [14‐17] and also seems related to academic and cognitive performance in children [18, 19]. MC are defined as;” … an organized series of basic movements that involve the combination of movement patterns of two or more body segments.” [[15];^p52] and are often classified into three components: postural stability (e.g., static and dynamic balance), object control (e.g., catching and throwing) and locomotor movements (e.g., running and jumping). It is argued that postural stability is crucial to the development of the two other components of MC, i.e., locomotor movements and object control [20, 21]. MC are, considered as ‘building blocks’ for the development of more complex and sport-specific movement skills. Studies have found that the most ideal period to learn these skills is during preschool and early school years [21, 22]. It is suggested that underdeveloped MC potentially creates a barrier for participation in PAs [22, 23].

Some researchers suggest a reciprocal relationship between MC and PA that will strengthen over time [14, 22, 23]. A positive relationship between MC and PA in childhood and youth has been strongly asserted in cross-sectional studies [15, 16, 24]. However, whether it is a high level of PA that improves MC or better MC that makes children participate more in PA is more uncertain due to a lack of longitudinal studies. Some longitudinal studies indicate that childhood MC can predict later PA [14, 25, 26], while a recent systematic review found no consistent evidence for PA as a predictor of MC [17]. Additionally, a positive relationship between MC and physical fitness in childhood and has been asserted [12, 14, 27], and there are some evidence that the association between MC and PA is mediated by cardiorespiratory fitness [14, 23, 28] . Presuming that MC in childhood is a crucial factor impacting future PA levels, it is important to investigate what determines the development of MC.

Physical literacy is an individual’s disposition to participate in and maintain PAs throughout the life course [10]. Whitehead spearheaded the concept and defined physical literacy as: “… the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life” [10;^pp13]. Other definitions focus on PL as consisting of different, yet somewhat interdependent, domains. Often an affective, physical and cognitive domain are described [29] which cover concepts such as confidence, motivation, physical capacity (i.e. fitness and strength), MC, knowledge, and understanding.

The attention towards the multidimensional construct of physical literacy and e.g. its potential role for population health and wellbeing has increased in recent years [29‐32]. This increased interest in physical literacy stands on a belief that the interaction of the domains brings additional explanatory value beyond the sum of the concepts included in the construct [30].

Dudley et al. [33] argued that physical literacy promotes MC, which in turn is related to PA [15, 16, 24] and physical fitness [12, 14]. A large scale Canadian study on physical literacy has shown it to be associated to variables such as sedentary behavior, cardiorespiratory fitness, adherence to PA guidelines and weight status in children aged 8 to 13 [34]. In the theory of physical literacy, it is suggested that all body movements will have an impact on the development of MC, and the young child should accordingly engage in many diverse range of movement activities to create the best circumstances for developing good MC [10]. This is supported by research on the consequences of early specialization in sports, which shows that early specialization in one sport and activity-specific skills, can result in limited range of MCs [35], which may result in decreased participation in PA in adulthood [36] and dropout from organized PA [37]. Further, the holistic theory of physical literacy offers an approach where future engagement in PA throughout the life is affected by not only physical capacity (i.e. MC), but also knowledge and understanding (e.g. on how to engage in different activities and settings), and confidence and motivation for different PA’s. Our theoretical rationale for this explorative investigation is that engaging in a diverse range of physical activities at an early age is impacting later PA levels through other mechanisms than solely MC.

Therefore, the aims of this longitudinal study are to investigate the longitudinal relationship between diversified physical activities, MC and MVPA (see Fig. 1) with an emphasis on the impact of leisure-time diversified physical activities in early childhood (age six) on the development of later MC and MVPA (age nine and age 13). An aim is also to explore to what extent the longitudinal association between diversified physical activities and MVPA can be explained (is mediated) by MC at age nine. Our theoretical rationale is that diversified physical activities in childhood can increase later MC and PA in children and that the longitudinal association between diversified physical activities at age six and MVPA at age 13 is partly mediated by MC at age nine.

Figure 1 shows the two theorized models, with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at age 13 (model 1) and motor competence (MC) at age 13 (model 2) as the outcome respectively.

The results of this study indicate that having a diverse physical activity pattern in early childhood is associated with higher levels of objectively measured PA 7 years later.

Diversified physical activities at age six was positively associated with MVPA and MC at age nine. MVPA and MC at age nine were also positively related to MVPA at age 13 but to a lesser degree than diversified physical activities at age six. Furthermore, the association between diversified physical activities at age six and MVPA at age 13 was not significantly mediated by MC or MVPA at age 9 and there were no longitudinal associations from MC at age six to MVPA at age nine or at age 13.

Although not a high beta value, considering that the association between diversified physical activities at age six and MVPA at age 13 was observed over a period of 7 years, the β-value of 0.22 is noteworthy. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have explored the longitudinal association between diversified physical activities and MVPA. From our theoretical rationale based on the concept of physical literacy [10], diversified physical activities at a young age is important for later levels of MVPA. The observed associations between early diversified physical activities and later PA levels could be an indication that early diversified physical activities results in inspiration to choose more widely when deciding how to be physically active later in life, or/and that skills more specific to the physical activities available to and undertaken by children and youth in their everyday life than perhaps general motor skills might be important to overall PA. A diverse pattern of PAs would most likely lead to skills, knowledge and understanding for a varied and broad number of activities and coordination patterns that an individual can recall on when needed and in diverse PA context and settings. Further, the non-significant mediation of MC could be an indication that diversified physical activity in early childhood impacts later levels of PA through other mechanisms than solely MC, like e.g. knowledge and understanding (e.g. on how to engage in different activities and settings), and confidence and motivation for different PA’s. Also, the work of Hulteen and colleagues argues that various elements affects the development of fundamental movement skills and engagement in PA across the lifespan [58]. Their conceptual model shares some of the same mechanisms as the theory of physical literacy. Future studies, e.g., with an experimental intervention design, should investigate the association between childhood diversified physical activities and PA and the underlying mechanisms.

The association between diversified physical activities at age six and MVPA at age 13 was not significantly mediated by MC. This is quite surprising as it has been theoretically argued that diversified physical activities contributes to well-developed MC, which then enable participation in many PAs [6]. The non-significant mediation could be due to that the assessment of MC was rather narrow (only postural and locomotor skills).

Diversified physical activities at age six was associated with MC at age nine and 13. We did not find any longitudinal associations between MVPA (at age six or at age nine) and MC at an older age. As described in the introduction, there is no clear evidence for MVPA as a predictor of MC [17]. Results from our study have expanded on this sparse knowledge, showing that diversified physical activities at age six is important for MC at a later age, even when controlling for MVPA. The results indicate that MC does not develop solely by taking part in high amounts of MVPA, but by engaging in many different types of activities at an early age. It has been suggested that MC needs to be taught, practiced and reinforced, especially later in childhood [12]. Interventions targeting MC development in PE curriculum has shown to be effective [59], but the enduring effect on MC or PA after intervention has not been demonstrated. While acknowledging the impact of teaching MC through an instructional approach, diversified physical activities may be an effective, accessible and sustainable way to develop MC in early childhood years.

To our knowledge four other studies have investigated the longitudinal associations between MC and PA [14, 25, 60, 61] in samples similar to our sample (between approximately 4–10 years at baseline). Generally, it is difficult to compare results from studies investigating MC and PA, as many different measurement batteries are used to assess MC and self-reported measures of PA are still common. A meta-analysis concluded that correlates of MC differ according to the operationalization of MC [17]. An explanation to why our results are contradictory to other studies that find relationship between MC and PA, could be that the KTK battery used in our study does not assess manipulative skills. Barnett and colleagues [60] showed in a study of 276 school children (mean age of 10 years) that manipulative skills were associated with self-reported PA 6 years later It might be that this aspect of fundamental movement skills is a better predictor for e.g. adolescent PA, since these type of skills (e.g., kicking, catching, throwing), are required in many traditional organized sports. Thus, because the KTK battery used in our study does not assess manipulative skills, comparisons should be considered with caution. Two other longitudinal studies of the association between MC at an early age (4–6 years) and later levels of PA are not consistent. Lopes and colleagues [25] assessed MC in 285 children (mean age of 6 years) using the KTK battery, and PA was assessed (self-reported) over four consecutive years. The authors observed that children in the highest MC tertile at baseline showed the smallest drop in levels of PA up to 4 years later compared to the middle and low MC tertiles. This result indicates that MC at a young age is important for later PA. In a study of 207 children, McKenzie and colleagues [61] assessed MC at ages four, five and six and self-reported PA at age 12. They observed no association between childhood MC and PA at age 12 and discussed the limitations of the battery used for assessing MC, as it consisted of three single tests (lateral jump, catch a ball, and balance on one foot). In our study, we also did not find MC at age six to be associated with PA at age 13, while however MC at age nine was.

This study indicates that diversified physical activity in early childhood is associated with higher levels of objectively measured physical activity 7 years later in adolescence. Diversified physical activity at age six is also positively associated with physical activity and motor competence at age nine, which are, in turn, positively related to physical activity at age 13 but to a lesser degree than diversified physical activity at age six. This indicates that increasing the diversity of children’s daily physical activities, not only the amount and intensity of physical activity, is an important aim for lifelong physical activity participation and thereby health promotion.