ABSTRACT Introduction When encouraging children to active lifestyle, a suitable test for the gros... more ABSTRACT Introduction When encouraging children to active lifestyle, a suitable test for the gross motor coordination, specifically mastering of fundamental motor skills, is of great use. To evaluate and choose a suitable test for different purposes it is important to know its usage in different settings. The Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK) [1] is a test, which mainly focuses on gross motor coordination of both normal and impaired children. The KTK is quite simple and quick to administer, the same items cover all age groups (5–15 years). This study aims to introduce the KTK's usage on a basis of literature review. Specifically, the aim is to extract information on KTK's pros, cons and suggestions to help evaluate its suitability to different purposes. Methods To gather articles reporting on the KTK we made a systematic search from MEDLINE (ProQuest), PsycINFO (ProQuest), SPORTDiscus with Full Text (EBSCO), PubMed (Medline) and Web of Science - WoS. Inclusion criteria were: – a search term existed in the title or abstract; – the “KTK” did not refer something else than Körperkoordinations test; – published in English/German peer reviewed journal. Results We identified 192 potential titles. After duplicates removal 42 articles (13 German) satisfied the criteria. The articles, published 1975–2013, reported 8 different designs taking place in 11 countries with 17–7175 participants (age range 5–26 years). The articles fell into 6 categories according to purposes for which the KTK was used in normal or special populations. The KTK's use in different settings, pros, cons, and suitability based on the authors’ judgments will be presented. Conclusions Results will be scrutinized and some key points will be formulated to generate critical discussion.
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2014
Adequate motor skills are essential for children participating in age-related physical activities... more Adequate motor skills are essential for children participating in age-related physical activities, and gross motor skills may play an important role for maintaining sufficient level of physical activity (PA) during life course. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between gross motor skills and PA in children when PA was analyzed by both metabolic- and neuromuscular-based methods. Gross motor skills (KTK--Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder and APM inventory--manipulative skill test) of 84 children aged 5-8 years (53 preschoolers, 28 girls; 31 primary schoolers, 18 girls) were measured, and accelerometer-derived PA was analyzed using in parallel metabolic counts and neuromuscular impact methods. The gross motor skills were associated with moderate-to-high neuromuscular impacts, PA of vigorous metabolic intensity, and mean level of PA in primary school girls (0.5 < r < 0.7, P < 0.05), and with high impacts in preschool girls (0.3 < r < 0.5, P < 0.05). In preschool boys, moderate impacts, light-to-vigorous PA, and mean level of PA were associated with gross motor skills (0.4 < r < 0.7, P < 0.05). In conclusion, the result emphasizes an important relationship between gross motor skills and PA stressing both metabolic and neuromuscular systems in children. Furthermore, PA highly stressing neuromuscular system interacts with gross motor proficiency in girls especially.
Based on health benefits, international physical activity (PA) guidelines recommend at least 60 m... more Based on health benefits, international physical activity (PA) guidelines recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) daily in children over 5-years-old. Finnish national guidelines recommend 7-years-old and younger children to be physically active at least 2 hours a day of which at least a part should contain MVPA. To date, there is no research-based evidence on which intensity of PA is of primary importance from the perspective of development of fundamental motor skills in children. The purpose of this study was to examine the intensity of typical children’s’ indoor physical activities known to be important for fundamental motor development. Preschoolers (11 girls and 7 boys, mean age 6.3 years) and first-graders (3 girls and 8 boys, mean age 7.6 years) performed six indoor activities during a day: tag, ball game, crawling, stair walking, climbing and balance beam walking. Physical activity was measured objectively using three-dimension...
ABSTRACT Introduction When encouraging children to active lifestyle, a suitable test for the gros... more ABSTRACT Introduction When encouraging children to active lifestyle, a suitable test for the gross motor coordination, specifically mastering of fundamental motor skills, is of great use. To evaluate and choose a suitable test for different purposes it is important to know its usage in different settings. The Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK) [1] is a test, which mainly focuses on gross motor coordination of both normal and impaired children. The KTK is quite simple and quick to administer, the same items cover all age groups (5–15 years). This study aims to introduce the KTK's usage on a basis of literature review. Specifically, the aim is to extract information on KTK's pros, cons and suggestions to help evaluate its suitability to different purposes. Methods To gather articles reporting on the KTK we made a systematic search from MEDLINE (ProQuest), PsycINFO (ProQuest), SPORTDiscus with Full Text (EBSCO), PubMed (Medline) and Web of Science - WoS. Inclusion criteria were: – a search term existed in the title or abstract; – the “KTK” did not refer something else than Körperkoordinations test; – published in English/German peer reviewed journal. Results We identified 192 potential titles. After duplicates removal 42 articles (13 German) satisfied the criteria. The articles, published 1975–2013, reported 8 different designs taking place in 11 countries with 17–7175 participants (age range 5–26 years). The articles fell into 6 categories according to purposes for which the KTK was used in normal or special populations. The KTK's use in different settings, pros, cons, and suitability based on the authors’ judgments will be presented. Conclusions Results will be scrutinized and some key points will be formulated to generate critical discussion.
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2014
Adequate motor skills are essential for children participating in age-related physical activities... more Adequate motor skills are essential for children participating in age-related physical activities, and gross motor skills may play an important role for maintaining sufficient level of physical activity (PA) during life course. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between gross motor skills and PA in children when PA was analyzed by both metabolic- and neuromuscular-based methods. Gross motor skills (KTK--Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder and APM inventory--manipulative skill test) of 84 children aged 5-8 years (53 preschoolers, 28 girls; 31 primary schoolers, 18 girls) were measured, and accelerometer-derived PA was analyzed using in parallel metabolic counts and neuromuscular impact methods. The gross motor skills were associated with moderate-to-high neuromuscular impacts, PA of vigorous metabolic intensity, and mean level of PA in primary school girls (0.5 < r < 0.7, P < 0.05), and with high impacts in preschool girls (0.3 < r < 0.5, P < 0.05). In preschool boys, moderate impacts, light-to-vigorous PA, and mean level of PA were associated with gross motor skills (0.4 < r < 0.7, P < 0.05). In conclusion, the result emphasizes an important relationship between gross motor skills and PA stressing both metabolic and neuromuscular systems in children. Furthermore, PA highly stressing neuromuscular system interacts with gross motor proficiency in girls especially.
Based on health benefits, international physical activity (PA) guidelines recommend at least 60 m... more Based on health benefits, international physical activity (PA) guidelines recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) daily in children over 5-years-old. Finnish national guidelines recommend 7-years-old and younger children to be physically active at least 2 hours a day of which at least a part should contain MVPA. To date, there is no research-based evidence on which intensity of PA is of primary importance from the perspective of development of fundamental motor skills in children. The purpose of this study was to examine the intensity of typical children’s’ indoor physical activities known to be important for fundamental motor development. Preschoolers (11 girls and 7 boys, mean age 6.3 years) and first-graders (3 girls and 8 boys, mean age 7.6 years) performed six indoor activities during a day: tag, ball game, crawling, stair walking, climbing and balance beam walking. Physical activity was measured objectively using three-dimension...
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Papers by Arto Laukkanen