Aim of the study. The aim of this study was to assess the scope and direction of long-term change tendencies in indicators of mental, physical, and motor development, and to assess the correlation between the level of non-verbal intelligence and indicators of physical development and between the level of non-verbal intelligence and selected components of physical fitness (measured according to under the health-related fitness convention) among children aged 4-14 years from different social backgrounds in the Małopolska Province. Material. Observed was the level of motor, somatic, and mental development among girls and boys aged 4-14 years between 2005 and 2010 in three different-sized agglomerations in the Małopolska Province: the city of Kraków, the village of Barcice, and the town of Sławków. A total of 1429 children were assessed, including 202 girls and 217 boys from Barcice, 221 girls and 199 boys from Sławków, and 274 girls and 316 boys from Kraków.Methodology. In accordance with the aim of the study, selected indicators of somatic, motor, and mental development among children were compared to the corresponding data for 1975-1980 from the same agglomerations.

Aim of research. Basing on the results of the researches conducted on 3221 girls from Małopolska in years 1996-2005 some hypothesis were verified about ontogenetic period ap-pearance of: the negative influence of too low and too high fatness level on the positive health measures level, and the similar structure of the physical efficiency analyzed referring to health and the similar strength of the correlation connection between its elements and the height-weight index (Quetelet II) sorted in groups according to BMI level. Methods. The results of the positive health indexes were analyzed such as: the basic somat-ic features, antropometric indexes, the oxygen efficiency (VO2 max), motor ability tested on Eurofit and MTSF tests. Basing on the average value and the standard aberration of BMI all tested girls were divided into 3 groups: 8-10, 13-14, 17-18. In every group the range and the trend of the considering features differentiations were discerned and only in two groups (above and below the range of 1 SD BMI) the concentration analysis was conducted where the strength of the correlation connection between the elements of the physical efficiency structure, tested according to the relation of health and BMI level, were estimated. Results. The researches confirmed the accepted hypothesis about the negative influence of low and high fatness level, tested by BMI indexes, on the selected indexes of the positive health. The results of the concentration analysis and the Pearson’s correlation between BMI index and the physical efficiency’s elements tested referring to health show the reason to claim there are similar connections between the elements of the physical efficiency and the hierarchic structure in the group of individuals of low and high fatness. The statistically es-sential correlations only between efficiency’s morphologic components and BMI were found. Conclusion. The conducted researches confirmed: 1. The negative influence of too low and too high level of fatness on the level of the health positive indexes, 2. The statistically essen-tial correlation connections only between BMI and the somatic features which measure a body’s fatness, 3. The poor relations between BMI level and the positive health measures such as: physical efficiency, motor ability, 4. The similar structure of the physical efficiency tested referring to health in groups of lower and higher level of fatness.

Aim. Two objectives were set for realization in this paper: 1. To identify the cohort dynamics of the development of selected physical fitness components in girls and boys studied longitudinally as a basis for distinguishing sensitive and critical periods proposed in sports theory. 2. To carry out a comparative analysis of the individual and cohort development pace of selected motor abilities, taking into account the absolute and relative ages of the subjects in order to confirm the validity of distinguishing the limits of sensitive and critical periods limits with methods used in sports practice. Basic procedures. The research incorporated the results of an eight-year continuous study on 401 children from Krakow. Basic somatic features and anthropometric indicators were measured. Traditional methods were used to distinguish periods of increased dynamics of motor development and of reaching puberty leaps. The age of reaching peak body height has was determined using an original computerized method. In the distinguished fractions of biological development advancement, the individual pace of motor development of 401 boys and girls was determined. Comparative analysis of the cohort development pace of motor skills was conducted using traditional methods in our own and comparative studies, and the individual rate of development of random children who reached puberty at different times. Results. Comparative analysis showed no coherence in the occurrence of dynamic development periods of motor abilities distinguished in the materials from studies on both cohort and individual cases. Conclusions. 1. Differences in studying motor skill development using various methods support the lack of a basis for the use of growth dynamics as a criterion for determining sensitive and critical periods. 2. Using the Montessori concept to designate sensitive and critical periods in the motor development of a child should be considered unfounded.