Povezave med telesnimi merami, gibalnimi sposobnostmi in izvršilnimi funkcijami v otroštvu

Tacol, Lovro (author), Pečjak, Sonja (mentor), Bregant, Tina (co-mentor)

Z magistrskim delom sem želel ugotoviti, (i) ali so pri otrocih z normalno telesno težo gibalne sposobnosti in izvršilne funkcije (IF) povezane ter (ii) kakšne so gibalne sposobnosti in IF otrok z normalno telesno težo, otrok s prekomerno telesno težo in debelih otrok. V raziskavo sem vključil 203 petošolke in petošolce iz Savinjske regije (povprečna starost: 10 let in 8 mesecev). Meritve telesnih mer in gibalnih sposobnosti otrok so opravili športni pedagogi v okviru vsakoletnih meritev SLOfit (Športnovzgojni karton), IF pa sem testiral z novo Testno baterijo za merjenje izvršilnih funkcij; pridobil sem soglasja ravnateljev in staršev. Na podatkih IF sem opravil faktorsko analizo in izračunal Pearsonove korelacijske koeficiente za korelacije med gibalnimi sposobnostmi in IF, z ANOVO s post-hoc testi pa sem preveril razlike med tremi skupinami otrok. Rezultati so pokazali, da so inhibicija, fleksibilnost, vidni nadzor in verbalna fluentnost statistično značilno (p < 0,001) in srednje visoko povezani z indeksom gibalne učinkovitosti ter enakovredno z obema vrstama fitnesa (z zdravjem povezan fitnes in z gibalno učinkovitostjo povezan fitnes). Delovni spomin ni statistično značilno povezan z gibalno učinkovitostjo, le šibko (p < 0,05) z gibalno sposobnostjo aerobne vzdržljivosti. Pri preizkusih gibalnih sposobnosti so bili, razen pri Dotikanju plošč z roko in Predklonu stoje, najuspešnejši otroci z normalno telesno težo, najmanj uspešni pa debeli otroci. Pri preizkusih IF med skupinami glede na ITM ni bilo statistično značilnih razlik. Omejitev raziskave vidim predvsem v tem, da testna baterija še ni bila validirana na izbrani populaciji. Poleg tega bi bilo verjetno smiselno preučiti tudi razlike v sposobnostih med spoloma oz. vpliv spola na razlike med skupinami. Prispevek študije je v njeni interdisciplinarnosti in vključitvi IF kot neposrednega pokazatelja kognitivnih sposobnosti v primerjavi s sicer precej preučevanim, a posrednim pokazateljem – učnim uspehom.

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: indeks telesne mase
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Year: 2018
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-106543
• COBISS.SI-ID: 12330313
• Publication date in RUL: 27.03.2019

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Relationships between physical development, motor skills and executive functions in children

Abstract

With the master’s thesis I wanted to explore (i) whether motor skills and executive functions (EF) of normal-weight children are correlated and (ii) how do motor skills and EF of three groups of children regarding their body mass index or BMI – normal-weight, overweight and obese – differ. I studied 203 primary school fifth-graders (average age: 10 years and 8 months) from Savinja statistical region in Slovenia. Anthropometric and motor skills measurements were performed by their sport teachers during yearly SLOfit (Sports Educational Chart) routine and testing of EF was carried out with the newly developed Test battery for measuring executive functions; headmasters’ and parents’ informed consent was acquired beforehand. Factor analysis was executed on EF data and Pearson correlation coefficients calculated for correlations between the motor skills and EF; ANOVA with post-hoc tests was used to assess the differences between the groups of children. Results showed that inhibition, flexibility, visual search and verbal fluency were moderately correlated (p < 0,001) with overall motor performance; those EFs were also equally strongly correlated with both aspects of fitness (health-related and physical efficiency-related). Working memory showed no significant correlations with motoric index or two fitness components, but was weakly correlated (p < 0,05) with specific motor skill aerobic endurance. On all the motor skills tasks – except on the Hand-tapping and Stand and reach – normal-weight children achieved the best results and obese children the worst, whereas on the EF tests there were no differences between the groups. One of the study’s main limitations would be the fact that the test battery for EF is not yet validated. Apart from that, it would most probably be useful to test for differences in skills based on sex and whether sex has some impact on the differences between the groups regarding BMI. The important contribution of the research is in its interdisciplinary nature and in the inclusion of EF as the most indirect possible indicator of cognitive skills as opposed to the frequently studied, but direct one – academic achievement.

• Keywords: body mass index