ArticleEnvironmental health and preventive medicine2022
Fundamental movement skills in preschoolers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: a serial cross-sectional study.
Article in Environmental health and preventive medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fine Motor Skills and Later Vocabulary Development Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Japanese Childcare Settings.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Dual trends in physical fitness and suspected myopia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a single-school study of children aged 6-11 years in rural Zhejiang, China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on child development: comparing pre- and post-pandemic developmental process levels.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of Motor Skills of German 5- to 6-Year-Old Children.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effects of Dance Music on Motor Skills and Balance in Children: An Observational Cohort Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Child Motor Development before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are There Social Inequalities?Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Changes in Motor Competence of 4-8-Year-Old Children: A Longitudinal Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- An Effective and Playful Way of Practicing Online Motor Proficiency in Preschool Children.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on motor skill development of 6- and 7-year old children in the Netherlands: a longitudinal study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Children's Fundamental Motor Skills: A Study for the Taiwanese Preschoolers Teachers.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Piloting the Virtual PLAYshop Program: A Parent-Focused Physical Literacy Intervention for Early Childhood.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Association between decreased grip strength in preschool children and the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study from 2015 to 2021.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2023Observational
- The Developmental Trajectory of Motor Competence of Children That Lived the COVID-19 Confinement Period: A Four-Year Follow-Up Study in Portuguese Children.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2022Article
- Lessons from the health policies for children during the pandemic in Japan.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysical inactivity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have hindered the development of fundamental movement skills in preschoolers. This serial cross-sectional study compared fundamental movement skills by age group before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019-2020), among Japanese preschoolers aged 3-5 years.
methodsOf the 22 preschools within Unnan City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan, 21 (95.5%) and 17 (77.3%) participated in the 2019 and 2020 surveys, respectively. We analyzed 608 and 517 preschoolers in both surveys. Fundamental movement skills were objectively assessed with a 25 m run, standing long jump, and softball throw, based on the Japanese physical activity guidelines for preschoolers. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare the fundamental movement skills data between periods.
resultsFor the 25 m run, participants aged 5 years were faster before than during the pandemic (p = 0.018), while participants aged 3 and 4 years showed no significant differences. Participants aged 3-5 years showed no significant differences before and during the pandemic for the standing long jump (p ≥ 0.072). For the softball throw, all grades scored higher before than during the pandemic (p < 0.001).
conclusionsThese findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic impeded the development of fundamental motor skills, especially for object control skills. This highlights the need for interventions aimed at developing fundamental motor skills in preschoolers during and after the pandemic.
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