Bidirectional, prospective associations between physical activity, fundamental motor skills, and physical fitness in preschool children

TL;DR

This study shows that physical activity in preschoolers is linked to better motor skills and fitness, and these benefits go both ways over time.

Contribution

The study reveals bidirectional, long-term associations between specific physical activity intensities and motor development in young children.

Findings

Vigorous and total physical activity are positively linked to locomotor skills and motor fitness in preschoolers.

Moderate physical activity is associated with improved balance and object control skills.

Sedentary behavior negatively affects motor skills and physical fitness in young children.

Abstract

Evidence regarding longitudinal associations between physical activity (PA), fundamental motor skills, and physical fitness in young children is scarce and mixed. This study aimed to investigate bidirectional associations between intensity-specific PA and fundamental motor skills and physical fitness in 3–4-year-old preschoolers over 18 months.

We included 821 children (3.8 years, 53.5% boys) from the Active Learning Norwegian Preschool(er)s study who were measured at baseline and 18 months later. PA was measured with ActiGraph GT3X + accelerometers, fundamental motor skills were evaluated using 9 skills as indicators of locomotor skills, object control skills, and balance skills, and fitness was measured through tests of upper- and lower-body muscular strength (handgrip and standing long jump) and motor fitness (4 × 10 shuttle-run test). Structural equation modelling (SEM) with latent change-scores was used to investigate the bidirectional, prospective associations for PA with fundamental motor skills and physical fitness.

Vigorous PA (VPA) and total PA (TPA) were bidirectionally, and favourably, associated with locomotor skills and motor fitness. Moderate PA (MPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) showed a positive association with balance skills, and MPA, VPA, MVPA, and TPA were prospectively and positively associated with object control skills, handgrip strength, and standing long jump, but not vice versa. Sedentary behaviour (SED) showed a bidirectional, negative association with locomotor skills, and a negative association with object control skills and all fitness measures.

Although we found a few bidirectional associations for PA with locomotor skills and motor fitness, our results suggest that promoting MVPA in early childhood can have a positive impact on children’s development of fundamental motor skills and physical fitness.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-025-25871-7.

Figures