The importance of diversified physical activities in early childhood for later fundamental movement skills and physical activity level: a seven-year longitudinal study

Background: Research indicates that childhood fundamental movement skills (FMS) can predict physical activity (PA) later in life and it has been argued that frequently engaging in a wide diversity of physical activities will eventually improve children’s FMS. However, no longitudinal or experimental studies have confirmed this hypothesis. The aims of this study are to investigate the longitudinal associations between diversified physical activities at age six and later FMS and PA (age nine and 13). Furthermore, we explore to what extent the longitudinal association between diversified physical activity and PA is mediated by FMS.Methods: Longitudinal data from the Copenhagen School Intervention Studywere used for this analysis, where 704 participated (69% response rate). Diversified physical activity (self-reported), FMS (The Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder battery of postural stability and locomotor skills) and PA (accelerometer) were assessed in the children at age six, age nine and age 13. A total of 991 participated in at least one of the measure years. Two structural equation models were constructed, with diversified physical activity at age six and FMS and PA at age nine as predictors of PA and FMS at age 13. Results: The data from both models demonstrated good model fit. Diversified physical activity at six years of age was significantly associated with physical activity and FMS at age 13, when adjusting for sex, age, intervention, weight, height, and previous levels of PA and FMS. Diversified physical activity at age six was also positively associated with PA and FMS at age nine, which were, in turn, positively related to PA at age 13 but to a lesser degree than diversified PA at age six. The association between diversified physical activity at age six and PA at age 13 was not mediated by FMS at age nine. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that diversified physical activity at age six is important for the development of FMS and PA in adolescence. Increasing the diversity of children’s daily physical activities, not only the amount and intensity, seems important for future PA behavior and thereby health promotion in a life course perspective.