Extent and nature of motor difficulties based on age, ethnicity, gender and socio-economic status in a selected group of three- to five-year-old children

Abstract

Attention to adequate motor development is important during the pre-school years, to minimise possible motor difficulties when the child grows older. The aim of this study was to establish the nature and extent of motor function problems based on socio-economic status, gender, age and ethnicity in 3- to 5-year-old children. A convenience sample of 53 participants, aged 3.0-4.11 years from five pre-schools was assessed with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2. A percentage of 11.32% of the group (5 girls; 1 boy) were classified with severe Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). These results indicate that the higher socio-economic group (22.73%), girls (15.63%), black children (18.18%) and the three-year-old group (12.50%) had the most children in the severe DCD category. The 3.0-year-old group performed significantly better (p≤0.05) than the 4.0-year-old group in aiming and catching. White children outperformed black children in fine motor skills and boys outperformed (p≤0.05) girls in aiming and catching. No statistical significant differences were found between the different socio-economic groups. These results confirm motor difficulties in 3- to 5-year-old children and age and gender differences.

Key words: Preschool children; Motor development; Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD); Socio-economic status (SES); Screening; Gender.