ASSESSMENT OF MOTOR ABILITY OF 4-YEAR-OLD AND 5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

The aim of this investigation was to develop a test battery to measure the motor abilities of 4- and 5-year-old children. The subjects were 932 healthy kindergarten children from Tartu, Estonia: boys, 4 years, n = 205; boys, 5 years, n = 267; girls, 4 years, n = 224; girls, 5 yea rs, n = 236. Height and body mass were measured, and the body mass ind ex (BMI, kg/m(2)) was calculated. The following motor ability tests we re used: 3-min run (cardiorespiratory endurance), standing long jump ( explosive strength), 4 x 10 m shuttle-run (running speed, agility), si tups for 30 sec (trunk strength), sit-and-reach (flexibility), and san d bag (150 g) throw with tho dominant hand (explosive strength, coordi nation). The motor tests were repeated 3. week later in subgroups of 2 8-33 children. Most of the tests had an acceptable reliability (r > 0. 75) and none had a poor reliability (r < 0.40). There were significant (P < 0.05-0.001) differences between 4- and 5-year-old boys and girls in all tests except the sit-and-reach between the 4- and 5-year-old g irls. Performances of boys were generally better than those of girls o f the same age. Test results were often dependent on height and body m ass, but not on the BMI. When body size and age were statistically con trolled with second-order partial correlations, the relationships were greatly reduced or no longer significant. Stepwise regression analysi s revealed that age, height, and mass of the children accounted for on ly a small percentage of the variance in performances. The greatest co ntribution to total variance was accounted for by body size in the 3-m in run in 4-year-old boys (6%). (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.