Assessment of Physical Tests in 6–11 Years Old Children: Findings from the Play Lifestyle and Activity in Youth (PLAY) Study

Dai Sugimoto (), Andrea Stracciolini, Laura Berbert, Eric Nohelty, Greggory P. Kobelski, Becky Parmeter, Edie Weller, Avery D. Faigenbaum and Gregory D. Myer
Additional contact information
Dai Sugimoto: The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
Andrea Stracciolini: The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
Laura Berbert: Biostatistics and Research Design Center, Institutional Centers for Clinical and Translational Research, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Eric Nohelty: Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Greggory P. Kobelski: Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Becky Parmeter: Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Edie Weller: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Avery D. Faigenbaum: The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ 08628, USA
Gregory D. Myer: The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Waltham, MA 02453, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: The purpose was to evaluate selected physical tests in children and to compare the outcomes by sex. A cross-sectional study design was used to evaluate children 6–11 years who completed five physical tests: hand grip, vertical jump, sit and reach, Y-balance, and obstacle course (time and score). The outcome measures including test results were descriptively examined and compared by sex. The study participants consisted of 133 children (62 males and 71 females, with a median age of 7.8 years). Girls showed superior sit and reach performance ( p = 0.002) compared with boys. Boys demonstrated better Y-balance scores ( p = 0.007) and faster obstacle time ( p = 0.042) than girls. Sex comparison within three age groups (6–<8 years, 8–<10 years, and 10–<12 years) showed that girls performed better on the sit and reach compared with boys in the in 6–<8 years ( p = 0.009). Boys demonstrated higher Y-balance scores ( p = 0.017) and faster obstacle time ( p = 0.007) compared with girls in the 8–<10-year age group. These data will serve to guide future efforts to evaluate normative measures of physical literacy and guide targeted training interventions to promote sustained physical activity in children with deficits relative to their age and sex norms.

Keywords: exercises; exercise deficits disorder; moderate to vigorous physical activity; physical literacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2552/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2552/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2552-:d:1052917

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().