Organized physical activity and health in preschool age: A review

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate how organized Physical Activity (oPA) can contribute to the promotion of preschool aged children’s health and specifically to health indicators such as adiposity, bone and skeletal health, cardiometabolic health, motor skill development, cognitive development, and psychosocial health. Methods: A literature search of interventions aimed at improving health in preschool age was conducted in five electronic databases. Included in the review were only studies meeting the following criteria: published or accepted for publication studies; written in English; intervention with any type of oPA; 2–6 years old participants; pre- and post-objective assessments of the intervention effects; presence of a control group. Results: The majority of studies that met the inclusion criteria (n = 13) considered the effect of oPA on children’s motor development, while limited were those which examined the rest of the health indicators – adiposity (n = 4), bone and skeletal health (n = 2), cardiometabolic health (n = 0), cognitive development (n = 2), and psychosocial health (n = 4). Conclusions: The information about how oPA can influence preschoolers’ health status, although promising in most cases, was deficient. Questions about the kind, intensity, amount or frequency of physical activity (PA) required so as children’s health to be enhanced still remain. Further research into the relationship between oPA and health in preschool age is required in order to draw conclusions enabling the development of efficient PA programmes to promote children’s health.