Associações entre características do ambiente familiar e níveis de coordenação motora grossa de crianças

Abstract

Motor coordination levels are associated with a good performance of motor and sports tasks. The family, as the primary agent, leads the child to experiment with the environment that provides and promotes situations for the development of motor coordination. However, it is not yet clear which predictors in the family environment are associated with motor coordination. The aim of this study was to investigate the magnitude of the associations between the levels of gross motor coordination in children and the variables at the level individual level and family environment. It is characterized as an observational study of school-based association with crosssectional design. The sample consisted of 2,040 children aged six to 10 years old, students from the 1st to the 5th year of elementary school from 25 public schools in São José dos Pinhais, 20 of which are from the urban area and five from the rural area. The characteristics at the individual level were evaluated, the demographic variables (sex and age), physical growth (height, body mass and BMI) and to measure physical fitness five tests were used (horizontal jump, handgrip dynamometry, shuttle running, 20-meters running and six-minute running). Gross motor coordination was assessed using the KTK test scores. The family environment was assessed using an elaborated questionnaire with questions about social and structural aspects and the context of physical activity. To test the association between individual´s variables (sex, age, BMI and physical fitness) and the variables in the family environment, a multilevel linear regression was performed. All variables at the individual level were associated with gross motor coordination. Boys (β = 4,056 ± 1,149 p <0.001), older children (β = 19,804 ± 0.422, p <0.001), more able (β = 6,159 ± 0.186, p <0.001) and with lower BMI values (β = - 2,728 ± 0.184, p <0.001), had higher values of gross motor coordination. In terms of the family environment, it stands out that children who had the wide external area of the residence (β = <0.001 ± 0.000, p <0.001), as well as the availability of toys to climb, were positively associated with coordinative performance (β = 3.949 ± 2.075, p <0.05). The findings reinforce that the variables at the individual level are associated with gross motor coordination. Furthermore, they suggest that family environment variables also play an important role. These results can help in the elaboration of strategies between family, school and public sector to promote the recommendations of a healthy and positive environment for the development of the levels of gross motor coordination, through the offering of varied activities, organized spaces for games and games, with family support.