The characteristics of development and criterion of physical fitness among young children during a year

Abstract

Child care workers and guardians often ask. What is the ideal degree of physical development in young children? However, the report concerning the degree of development and a criterion index for the young children is rather limited.The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of the degree of development for a year throughout the years during which the physical fitness of the children was observed on the basis of follow-up data (three-years observation period ; children between ages three to five). Additionally, a criterion based on the degree of development was prepared.The subjects of this study were 613 young children (boys : 308 ; girls : 305) with standard physiques. We administered physical tests comprising seven types of exercises (grip strength, standing long jump, softball throw, 25-meter run, side-step, upright hand standing time, and sitting trunk flexion) in order to understand the characteristics of the children's physical fitness ; the tests were conducted every November for three years for children between ages three to five. The degree of development for a year, that is, from age three to four (D3-4) and age four to five (D4-5) was used for the analysis. To conduct a statistical analysis of the data, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, a two-way ANOVA and multiple comparisons (Tukey's HSD test) were employed.The analysis revealed that D3-4 and D4-5 were not highly relative in all tests (boys : 0.400 0.002 ; girls : 0.410 0.092). Additionally, all had negative correlation coefficients. This suggests that there was no guarantee that more development was observed in D4-5 even when a high degree of development was observed in D3-4. The physical activity custom of promoting development is necessary in any age level. The consequence of ANOVA indicated that D3-4 is larger than D4-5 in significance with regard to the 25-meter run, side-step, and standing long jump. On the other hand, D4-5 is larger than D3-4 in grip strength, softball throw, and upright hand standing time. These results were identical for both the boys and girls. A significant difference was not admitted in sitting trunk flexion.