Morales, H.; Velasquez, M.; Negrete, S.; Kelly, L.A. Comparison of Fundamental Movement Skills and Physical Fitness in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Elementary School Children. Healthcare2023, 11, 3028.
Morales, H.; Velasquez, M.; Negrete, S.; Kelly, L.A. Comparison of Fundamental Movement Skills and Physical Fitness in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Elementary School Children. Healthcare 2023, 11, 3028.
Morales, H.; Velasquez, M.; Negrete, S.; Kelly, L.A. Comparison of Fundamental Movement Skills and Physical Fitness in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Elementary School Children. Healthcare2023, 11, 3028.
Morales, H.; Velasquez, M.; Negrete, S.; Kelly, L.A. Comparison of Fundamental Movement Skills and Physical Fitness in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Elementary School Children. Healthcare 2023, 11, 3028.
Abstract
Objective: To investigate fundamental movement skills (FMS) and physical activity differences among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White elementary school children.
Materials and Methods: This study included 194 children aged between 4 and 11 in kindergarten, 2nd, and 5th grades. For evaluable participants, t-tests were used to test potential differences in fitness or movement skills. The characteristics of Hispanic and non-Hispanic White were compared using the p-value to detect statistical differences in anthropometric, FMS, and fitness characteristics. To identify any noticeable differences, the means and standard deviations of each group were compared.
Results: There were significant group differences across the participants in age, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), BMI percentile, arm circumference, and waist circumference. In addition, there were significant differences between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White in catch, run, dodge, punt, and two-hand strike (all p’s <0.05). Lastly, there were significant differences between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White in pull-up, push-up, and sit-up (all p’s <0.05).
Conclusion: Future studies should focus on decreasing obesity, increasing fitness, and FMS in elementary school children. Particularly, with Hispanic children whose FMS is negatively affected at such a young age, leading to eventual implications for their physical fitness and health in the future.
Keywords
Physical activity; fitness; Fundamental Movement Skills; Hispanic; Non-Hispanic White
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
