Comparison of health outcomes among children with different levels of motor competence

Purpose
While evidence suggests that children with the developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have worse health outcomes than their typically developing peers, it remains unclear whether children with low motor competence but without DCD are also characterized by worse health outcomes than those with average motor competence. The main purpose of this study was to compare health outcomes between children with low motor competence without DCD and those with average motor competence.

Methods
The total of 127 children aged 12–14 years were recruited. Motor competence, physical activity, flexibility, and muscular strength/endurance were assessed with, respectively, the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder, a validated self-administered questionnaire, sit-and-reach, and sit-up 60s tests. Skinfold thickness was measured to assess the children’s adiposity. Multivariate analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney tests were performed.

Results
Children with average motor competence had lower body fat percentage and higher levels of physical activity and muscular strength/endurance than the groups with low (p < 0.05) and very low (p < 0.01) motor competence. Further, children with low motor competence had lower body fat percentage (p < 0.01) and higher levels of muscular strength/endurance (p < 0.01) than their peers with very low motor competence.

Conclusions
Our findings suggest that children with low motor competence without DCD have worse health outcomes than their peers with average motor competence. We suggest that both the development of motor competence and improvement of health outcomes should be targeted during childhood and adolescence by health professionals.