engleski

IMPACT OF GENDER ON COMPLEX DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS AMONG PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Preschool years are a critical period in terms of developing fundamental movement skills (FMS), which play a crucial role in children’s motor development and health. Some of FMS, even in young children, are used as motor abilities test. However, contrary to the adults, for pre- school children, it is not appropriate to analyze individual motor abilities because their motor abilities are mostly manifestations of a single latent dimension (general motor latent dimension). Therefore, while affecting one's ability, other abilities are developed in parallel. Due to the existence of individual growth and developmental differences, age and gender have a positive influence on performance and achievements in FMS in pre-school children. On a sample of 30 children (15 boys and 15 girls, mean age 3.05±0.82 years ; min=2.19 ; max=4.39 years) we analyzed the impact of body weight (BW) and body height (BH) on the results of two selected tests: long jump (LJ) and 20 meters running (20M). The normality of distributions was examined by using Kolmogorov Smirnov test. Reliability of measurements was tested by Pearson coefficient of correlation and by ANOVA. Distribution parameters were analyzed for all measured variables. T-test for independent samples was used to identify gender differences while correlation analysis (on the whole sample, and separately for gender samples) was used to determine the association between morphological and motor variables. For measured tests long jump and 20 meters running, high reliability of data was determined. Distribution characteristics for variables BW (Skew=1.05, Kurt=2.82, KS-p>0.20) and for the 20M test (Skew=2.57, Kurt=8.35, KS-p>0.20) had small deviations, but within the limits of statistical tolerance. T-test for independent samples determined that boys were significantly heavier than girls (BWGIRLS=14.30 kg, BWBOYS =15.67 kg, p=0.04) while significant differences between boys and girls were not determined in BH, LJ, and 20M. On the whole sample, a significant correlation between BH and LJ (r=0.55), BH and 20M (r=-0.63), BW and 20M (r=-0.54) was deter- mined. A significant correlation was determined between BW and 20M (r=-0.72) in the sample of girls, and between BH and LJ (r=0.61), BH and 20M (r=-0.89) in the sample of boys. From the youngest age, there are significant gender differences in BW and probably in the influence of some morphological variables on better results in basic motor abilities tests. Because higher BH and BW are indirectly attributed to older children, the following main conclusion can be pointed out: due to the existence of nonlinear and complex dynamic of changes within bio-motor status at an early age, it is important to maximally homogenize groups to obtain precise information about the structure of relations within certain bio-motor dimensions of the youngest children.

morphological variables, motor abilities, gender differences, correlation analysis

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