From preschool to school-age: physical activity, physical literacy and health

Abstract

Physical activity is associated with a host of health benefits across childhood. Despite this, most children are not engaging in enough physical activity to achieve health benefits, and there is growing evidence that lifelong physical activity habits may be established in childhood. Theories suggest that physical literacy may be associated with health benefits due to its reciprocal relationship with physical activity participation. The associations between physical literacy, physical activity and health in children remain largely unstudied. The purpose of this thesis was to explore the relationships between physical literacy, physical activity and health across early and middle childhood. The first study assessed the measurement properties of the Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth Tools, an assessment battery for physical literacy. We determined that this assessment had acceptable internal consistency, construct validity, and offered unique perspectives of a child’s physical literacy. We then determined that physical literacy was associated favourably with body composition, blood pressure, quality of life, and aerobic fitness in school-age children. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity mediated the associations between physical literacy and aerobic fitness. Finally, the third study observed that physical activity trajectories from preschool to school-age were associated with school-age physical literacy. These results highlight the importance of physical literacy in childhood, given its associations with physical activity and health indicators. Physical literacy was associated with favourable health indicators, supporting its position as a determinant of health. The participants in the lowest physical activity trajectory groups had the lowest physical literacy. These finds suggest that physical activity across early and middle childhood may play a formative role in the development of physical literacy. Future work should determine if these results are applicable to other age groups, such as early years or adolescents, and if changes in physical activity over time are associated with changes in physical literacy over time.