The effects of the home-based exercise during COVID-19 school closure on the physical fitness of preschool children in China

Liang, Zhenwen; Cheng, Daizhan; Li, Dan; Lo, Wai Leung Ambrose; Yu, Qiuhua; Chen, Zhuoming

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.932734

Front. Pediatr.

2022

DOI: 10.3389/fped.2022.932734

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The effects of the home-based exercise during COVID-19 school closure on the physical fitness of preschool children in China

Zhenwen Liang

Daizhan Cheng

Dan Li

et al.

Abstract: BackgroundSocial distancing and school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the physical activities of the preschool children living in China. However, the effects of home-based exercise on the physical fitness of Chinese preschool children during COVID-19 school closures are still unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effects of home-based exercise on the physical fitness of Chinese preschool children during COVID-19 school closure.MethodsIn this retrospective analysis, data from 1,608 Chinese… Show more

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2024

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Cited by 2 publications

References 34 publications

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Field-based physical fitness assessment in preschool children in China

Li,

Liu

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

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Background Physical fitness in the preschool years is considered a marker of current and future health. Therefore, understanding physical fitness levels of preschool children is necessary. Furthermore, the use of field-based methods to measure physical fitness is essential for assessing children in authentic venues such as schools. Hence, the main purpose of this study was to describe the physical fitness of Chinese preschool children across field-based methods considering a statement of confidence intervals for reference in physical fitness in each age and genders. Methods A total of 619 children (296 boys and 323 girls) aged 3–6 years old from China participated in the present study. Physical fitness was measured using the Chinese National Physical Fitness Measurement (CNPFM-Pre) battery, which included the tennis ball throw (upper-limb muscular strength), standing long jump (lower-limb muscular strength), shuttle run test (speed-agility), double-leg timed hop (coordination), sit-and-reach (flexibility), and balance beam test (dynamic balance). Results The results revealed significant differences in gender for standing long jump (SLJ; η 2 = 0.012, p = 0.007), tennis ball throw (TT; η 2 = 0.081, p < 0.001), sit-and-reach (SR; η 2 = 0.114, p < 0.001), and one-legged stance test (OST; η 2 = 0.037, p < 0.001). Age had positive effects on all physical fitness performance tests, as the shuttle run test (η 2 = 0.672, p < 0.001), SLJ (η 2 = 0.513, p < 0.001), TT (η 2 = 0.394, p < 0.001), double-legged timed hop test (DTH; η 2 = 0.445, p < 0.001), SR (η 2 = 0.069, p < 0.001), balance beam test (BBT; η 2 = 0.367, p < 0.001), and OST (η 2 = 0.336, p < 0.001). Older preschool children performed better than their younger counterparts in all the tests. No significant interactions between age groups and gender were found. Conclusions This study provided age- and gender-specific physical fitness performance data in Chinese preschool children. Gender differences in physical fitness tests performance already exists at the preschool age. All physical fitness component results increased with age in this cohort. These findings can help healthcare, physical education, and pediatric professionals understand the physical fitness development of preschool children at different ages and help design sports tasks for preschool boys and girls.

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Field-based physical fitness assessment in preschool children in China

Li,

Liu

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

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Relationship between physical fitness and executive function in preschool children: a cross-sectional study

Zhou,

Chen,

Huang

et al. 2024

BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

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Background Physical fitness (PF) is important for children's physical and cognitive development. There is increasing interest in the relationship between physical fitness, and executive function. Since it is unclear which physical fitness component benefits which domain of executive functioning, it’s challenging to develop effective physical intervention programs for children with executive functioning disorders. This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical fitness components, and executive function domains. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 14 kindergartens and recruited 272 preschool children aged 3–6. PF was assessed by the National Physical Fitness Measurement (NPFM), including six physical fitness subtests: 10-m shuttle run test (SRT), standing long jump (SLJ), tennis ball throwing (TBT), double-leg timed hop (DTH) tests, sit-and-reach (SR), and balance beam walking (BBW). Executive function assessments include the dimensional change card sort (DCCS) test, digit span test (DST) and Head-toe-knee-shoulder (HTKS) task, to evaluate cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control respectively. Results Results from the Spearman correlations analysis showed a significant association between physical fitness and executive function. The hierarchical linear regression showed that age was the only predictor for cognitive flexibility (β = 0.53, p < 0.01) and working memory (β = 0.53, p < 0.01). For inhibitory control, children with older age (β = 0.52, p < 0.01) and better performance on SRT (β = -0.14, p < 0.01) and SLJ (β = 0.13, p < 0.01) scored higher in the HTKS. Conclusions The results indicated physical fitness, especially speed-agility and lower limb strength, is related to inhibitory control in preschool children. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13102-024-01028-8.

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The effects of the home-based exercise during COVID-19 school closure on the physical fitness of preschool children in China

Cited by 2 publications

References 34 publications

Field-based physical fitness assessment in preschool children in China

Field-based physical fitness assessment in preschool children in China

Relationship between physical fitness and executive function in preschool children: a cross-sectional study

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