Danielle M. Lang

Objective: Examine the effect of an 8-week teacher-guided active play intervention on preschoolers’ body composition and fundamental motor skills. Methods: Participants were from two local preschool centers randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 25, 3.91 ± 0.53 years) or the control group (n = 25, 3.69 ± 0.81 years). All measures were assessed at baseline (week 0), post-intervention (weeks 9–11), and follow-up (weeks 30–33). Bioelectrical Impedance assessed body composition (fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM)). The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, Second Edition (PDMS-2) assessed fundamental motor skills (gross motor quartile (GMQ)). Results: A significant Group × Time interaction for GMQ at post-intervention (p = 0.03), with the intervention group scoring significantly higher on GMQ. A significant main effect of Time (p < 0.001) indicated that GMQ increased in both groups across the 33-week period. For FM, a significant main effect of Time at both post-intervention (p < 0.05) and follow-up testing (p < 0.001) indicated that participants increased FM over the 33-week period. Lastly, there was a significant main effect of Time for FFM at post-intervention (p = 0.003) and follow-up (p < 0.001). Interestingly, there was a significant Group × Time interaction (p < 0.05) at follow-up testing showing that FFM increased over time but significantly more for the control group. Conclusions: Results indicate that active play interventions might be a successful pathway to improve gross motor skills in young children. Further research is needed to understand the effect that active play interventions have on body composition in preschoolers.

This study evaluated the efficacy of an 8-week (two sessions/week; 60 min/session) adapted soccer intervention on skill performance and retention in 30 adults (18 men and 12 women) ages 17–40 years with autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and intellectual disability. Of these 30 participants, 18 completed a 1-month retention test. The program included behavior supports and adaptations for participants with varying levels of behavioral needs. Dribbling, kicking a moving ball, kicking a stationary ball, throw-ins, trapping, and a composite skill score were examined. Linear mixed-effect regression revealed a significant time main effect with improvements from pretest to posttest and pretest to retention for all skills. In addition, modest offline gains (i.e., posttest < retention) were observed for throw-ins, kicking a moving ball, and the composite skill score. A significant main effect of diagnosis was observed such that participants with autism spectrum disorder had better performance on kicking a moving ball than those with Down syndrome and intellectual disability. Finally, a significant main effect of level of function was observed. This program enabled adults with various disabilities to acquire fundamental soccer skills that may lead to meaningful participation in community soccer programs.

As the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increases, there is a growing need to develop physical activity interventions that address the behavioral challenges experienced by individuals with ASD. Physical education teachers have employed behavioral supports that add more structure and adapt the environment for individuals with ASD, which are associated with increased engagement for individuals with ASD during PE. The purpose of this study was to quantify motor engaged behaviors (i.e. motor appropriate (MA)), motor inappropriate (MI), motor supported (MS) during skill practice in 18 individuals with ASD (ages 7-19 years) participating in an adapted tennis program (ACEing Autism) using the Academic Learning Time in Physical Education (ALT-PE) instrument. Overall, the supports provided during the program may have enabled participants with ASD to spend more time in MA and MS than MI. Indeed, the participants spent over 50% of their time in MA during the program.