Sogn og Fjordane Preschool Physical Activity Study - follow-up 2015-2019

Project summary

Physical activity (PA) during early childhood is of great importance for children’s health and development. As PA levels are known to decrease over time in school-aged children and adolescents, the preschool years have been highlighted as a crucial period for establishing adequate levels of PA. However, evidence suggests that many preschoolers, as well as children in primary school, are not sufficiently physically active. Before interventions aiming to increase PA in young children can be initiated, longitudinal research is required to identify factors influencing the development in PA over time, including how PA develops by individual characteristics such as sex, age, weight status/BMI, and fundamental motor skills (FMS). 

The aims of this research project was to investigate longitudinal development in PA and FMS from preschool to primary school, how PA develops by season, and investigate bi-directional, prospective associations between PA and FMS development and PA and BMI.

So far, two research papers is published on this material. The firs one is based on three repeated measurements of PA throughout the baseline year (10 months). Here we found that children were more physically active and less sedentary during spring and summer months when compared to the rest of the year. In the two-year follow-up study, we found that baseline moderate to vigorous PA predicted improved FMS two years later, but baseline FMS did not predict future PA levels.

Method

This project is a longitudinal study following a subsample of children taking part in the ‘Sogn og Fjordane Preschool Physical Activity Study’ (PRESPAS) that was conducted in 2015-2016 (cross-sectional  study). In this follow-up material, a subsample of children (N=376 at baseline) from 20 preschools from the original study was measured each autumn over four years (2016-2019) in addition to the baseline measurements in 2015/2016. All children attended preschool at baseline (baseline age: 2.7-6.5 years). 

The children participated in three repeated measurements of PA at baseline and in one follow-up measurement of PA each autumn for four years (2016-2019). FMS were measured one time at baseline and two times at follow-up (2017 and 2019).

PA was assessed objectively by ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers over 14 days for each monitoring period. FMS were evaluated through a test battery inspired by the ‘Test of Gross Motor Development 3’ and the ‘Preschooler Gross Motor Quality Scale’.