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Sports
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Advances in Motor Behavior and Child Health
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Advances in Motor Behavior and Child Health

A special issue of Sports (ISSN 2075-4663).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 4362

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniel Das Virgens Chagas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Interests: motor behavior; physical activity; motor skill development; physical fitness; childhood obesity; physical education
Dr. Fotini Venetsanou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Ethnikis Antistaseos 41, 17237 Athens, Greece
Interests: motor competence; physical activity; physical literacy; movement assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Being physically active is associated with several aspects of health (e.g., adiposity, physical fitness, cognitive development, and psychosocial health). However, the prevalence of young people with insufficient PA is high, being a concern for current and future generations. A promising way to improve engagement in PA and child health is fostering children’s motor competence. Children with adequate levels of motor competence appear to present higher perceived competence and are more engaged in physical education classes, sports, and other types of PA than their peers with poor motor skills; thus, motor competence can also be related to metabolic and mental health. On one hand, motor competence has been confirmed as a correlate of physical activity, perceived competence, physical fitness and weight status. On the other hand, less is known about the association of motor competence with other aspects of health, such as metabolic health, mental health, and cognitive development. Furthermore, there is still insufficient longitudinal evidence confirming motor competence as a predictor of physical activity and perceived competence in young people. Considering these gaps, this Special Issue aims at discussing how important motor competence is for engagement in PA as well as for health aspects across childhood and adolescence.

Dr. Daniel Das Virgens Chagas
Dr. Fotini Venetsanou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sports is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • motor competence
  • physical activity
  • physical fitness
  • perceived competence
  • weight status
  • metabolic health
  • cognitive development
  • mental health
  • children
  • adolescents

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3800 KiB  
Article
Children’s Individual Differences in the Responses to a New Method for Physical Education
by Sara Pereira, Carla Santos, José Maia, Olga Vasconcelos, Eduardo Guimarães, Rui Garganta, Cláudio Farias, Tiago V. Barreira, Go Tani, Peter T. Katzmarzyk and Fernando Garbeloto
Sports 2024, 12(12), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports12120328 - 29 Nov 2024
Viewed by 386
Abstract
Children’s fundamental movement skills (FMS) require planned and guided interventions to develop appropriately. We investigated the effect of a novel Physical Education (PE) method to develop children’s object control, locomotor skills, and motor competence. Further, we examined children’s trainability, i.e., their differential responses [...] Read more.
Children’s fundamental movement skills (FMS) require planned and guided interventions to develop appropriately. We investigated the effect of a novel Physical Education (PE) method to develop children’s object control, locomotor skills, and motor competence. Further, we examined children’s trainability, i.e., their differential responses to the new method, and identified low and high responders to the intervention. The study lasted three months and included six to seven-year-old children in two groups: control (the current, official PE program; n = 38) and experimental (the new method; n = 52). Twelve FMS [object control (OC), locomotor (LO)] were reliably assessed using the Meu Educativo® app. Using a mixed-effects model, results showed that the experimental group experienced greater changes (p < 0.05) than the control group in OC and LO. Positive individual changes were more frequent with the new method, but children showed a similar pattern in their interindividual variability in both methods. There was a greater reduction in the number of children with lower proficiency in the experimental group. In sum, the new PE method proved superior to the current, official one. Individual responses to the new method showed considerable variation, highlighting the need for personalization in teaching strategies and necessary support for children with lower proficiency levels, ensuring that no child is left behind in their motor development process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Motor Behavior and Child Health)
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8 pages, 598 KiB  
Article
Motor Coordination in Children: A Comparison between Children Engaged in Multisport Activities and Swimming
by Dušan Stanković, Maja Horvatin, Jadranka Vlašić, Damir Pekas and Nebojša Trajković
Sports 2023, 11(8), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports11080139 - 25 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3256
Abstract
Motor coordination has a crucial role in various physical activities and sports, highlighting its significance in overall movement proficiency and performance. This study aimed to compare motor coordination in children engaged in multisport versus swimming activities. The participants of this study included 180 [...] Read more.
Motor coordination has a crucial role in various physical activities and sports, highlighting its significance in overall movement proficiency and performance. This study aimed to compare motor coordination in children engaged in multisport versus swimming activities. The participants of this study included 180 boys and girls (girls = 87) aged 8.25 years ± 0.89. A total of three groups were included: group 1 consisted of inactive children, group 2 included children participating in swimming, and group 3 included children enrolled in multisport. Motor coordination was assessed using the Kiphard–Schilling body coordination test, evaluated by motor quotient (MQ): walking backwards, hopping for height, jumping sideways, and moving sideways. Additionally, a total motor quotient (Total MQ) was calculated based on the performance in all four tests. ANOVA revealed a significant difference in Total MQ and all subtests between the groups (p < 0.01). A significant difference in Total MQ was found not only between the inactive and multisport groups (Diff = 19.8000; 95%CI = 13.1848 to 26.4152; p = 0.001) but also between the multisport and swimming groups (Diff = 12.8000; 95%CI = 6.3456 to 19.2544; p = 0.001). In conclusion, the results revealed that children involved in multisport activities exhibited significantly better motor coordination compared to both the swimming group and the inactive group. Therefore, to enhance the growth of motor coordination abilities, it is crucial that parents, instructors, and coaches encourage kids to engage in multisport physical activities on a daily basis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Motor Behavior and Child Health)
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