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Getting Ireland’s Children Moving: Examining fundamental movement skills in Irish school children as a key component for physical literacy.

Behan, Stephen orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3085-2792, Belton, Sarahjane orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-9672-6276, Peers, Cameron, O'Connor, Noel E. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-4033-9135 and Issartel, Johann orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1016-1409 (2018) Getting Ireland’s Children Moving: Examining fundamental movement skills in Irish school children as a key component for physical literacy. In: North American Society for the for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, 21 - 24 June 2018, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Abstract
Recent reports from the World Health Organisation predict Ireland to be ‘the most obese nation in Europe by 2030”. In addition to this stark warning, recent research findings suggest that the country’s adolescents are falling short of physical literacy. With physical literacy being recognised as a key driver in lifelong physical activity participation, phase one of the Moving Well-Being Well study has assessed primary school children (5-13 years) in all aspects of the currently accepted physical literacy model. Areas of assessment included; fundamental movement skills (FMS) proficiency, perceived motor skill competence, motivation and confidence measures, health related fitness measures, body image, wellbeing and physical activity participation. FMS proficiency has been associated with beneficial health outcomes, and is most successfully developed during early school years, and as such is a central component of this study. Data was collected nationwide (n=2098, male 53%), and findings show that 77.5% of children scored between ‘very poor’ and ‘below average’ in FMS proficiency. There was no difference between children attending urban and rural schools, but notably, when socioeconomic status is taken into account, the schools in middle and upper-class neighbourhoods scored significantly higher (p<0.001) than those in the so called disadvantaged areas. The results also show significantly higher (p<0.001) FMS proficiency for children who achieve high levels of moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA), over those who are less active. Findings suggest that Irish primary school children fail to exhibit age-appropriate FMS proficiency. This low level of motor skills proficiency can have direct negative implications for future participation in physical activity. These findings are being used to create the structure of the Moving Well-Being Well intervention aiming at addressing these deficiencies.
Metadata
Item Type:Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)
Event Type:Conference
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Physical activity; obesity
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Exercise
Medical Sciences > Health
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Health and Human Performance
Research Institutes and Centres > INSIGHT Centre for Data Analytics
Published in: NASPSPA Book of Abstracts 2018. .
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
Funders:Science Federation Ireland, GAA Research and Games Development, Dublin GAA, Ireland's European Structural and investment Funds programmes 2014-20
ID Code:22401
Deposited On:26 Jun 2018 13:13 by Stephen Behan . Last Modified 12 Aug 2020 13:41
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