Multivariate Association Among Morphology, Fitness, and Motor Coordination Characteristics in Boys Age 7 to 11
in Pediatric Exercise ScienceClick name to view affiliation
Discussions of growth and motor performance of children are often set in the context of physical fitness. Although there is a clear theoretical concept or definition of fitness comprising motor coordination, the latter is not systematically considered. This study determined to what extent the variance in motor coordination might be explained by morphological and fitness characteristics. To postulate understanding of this association during childhood, 613 boys aged 7–11 years completed the morphological measurements, the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK) and different fitness tests. The results demonstrated a substantial interrelationship among morphology, fitness and motor coordination in elementary school boys. The magnitude of explained variance and the loadings of the canonical correlation between the several constructs are strongly pronounced during childhood indicating that these constructs should be well considered given their contribution to a child’s general development.
Vandendriessche, Vandorpe, Vaeyens, Lenoir, and Philippaerts are with the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dept. of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Coelho-e-Silva is with the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra, Portugal. Lefevre is with the Dept. of Biomedical Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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