Liikuntaintervention vaikutus 3-7-vuotiaiden lasten fyysiseen aktiivisuuteen ja motorisiin taitoihin sekä fyysisen aktiivisuuden yhteys sydän- ja verisuonitautien riskitekijöihin

Abstract

Sääkslahti selvitti väitöskirjatutkimuksessaan runsaaseen ulkoliikuntaan kannustavan liikuntaohjelman vaikutuksia 3-7-vuotiaiden lasten liikunnan määrään ja perustaitoihin. Lisäksi hän tarkasteli liikunnan määrän ja laadun yhteyttä sepelvaltimotaudin riskitekijöihin.Lapset tarvitsevat liikuntaa kasvaakseen ja kehittyäkseen. Hyvin pitkään oletettiin, että lapset liikkuvat ja leikkivät riittävästi. 1990-luvun aikana erilaiset tietotekniset laitteet ja pelit alkoivat kilpailla lasten huomiosta ja ajankäytöstä. Hyvin suuri osa lasten ns. vapaista leikeistä on aikaisemmin ollut erilaisia kasvua ja kehitystä tukevia liikuntaleikkejä. 2000-luvun alussa tilanne kuitenkin on muuttunut. Ajankäytön muuttumisen lisäksi on samanaikaisesti lisääntynyt huoli myös ylipainoisten lasten määrän kasvamisesta. Ylipaino on merkittävä yksittäinen riskitekijä sydän- ja verisuonitautien sekä 2-tyypin diabeteksen synnyssä.

Physical activity (PA), perceptual-motor skills (PMS), fundamental motor skills (FMS) and health are related to one another in childhood. Earlier studies have found that PA of young children has decreased. The purpose of this four-year physical activity intervention (PAI) project was to find answers to the following questions: 1) Does a family-based intervention increase the amount of daily PA of 3-to 7-year-old children? 2) Does the PAI have any effects on the children’s PMS and FMS? 3) Is PA related to coronary heart disease risk factors during the follow-up years? The subjects of the study were randomly selected from the Specific Turku Coronary Risk Intervention Project (STRIP) (n = 1062) in 1994. At the beginning of this STRIP physical activity study, the mean age of subjects in the intervention group was 3.7 years (n = 116, 59 girls and 57 boys). Control group 1 consisted of 59 (33 girls and 26 boys) and Control group 2 of 112 subjects (50 girls and 62 boys). PA was examined over one weekend with the Physical Activity Diary adapted from Barr et al. (1988). For the measurement of PMS and FMS, we used the test battery of Numminen (1995). The health parameters were measured as a part of STRIP study protocol. The children were measured twice a year in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 and once in 1998. To increase the children’s PA, the intervention group had an intervention programme based on the Social Cognitive Theory of Bandura (1986). The control groups did not participate in the intervention. Statistical analysis was performed with repeated measures of ANOVA and the MIXED procedure. The associations were measured with the Pearson correlation coefficient. The children in the intervention group spent more time playing outdoors than children in the Control group and their play in the high-activity category increased with age, whereas no change occurred in the Control group. The girls in the Intervention group had weaker PMS, but they succeeded better in locomotor skills – walking, running and long jumping – than the control girls. In the boys, the Intervention group had better PMS and the combination of walking and running than the Control group. Among the girls, low-activity playing was related to a higher BMI. At the mean age of six, high-activity playing was negatively related to serum total cholesterol and positively to the HDL/total cholesterol ratio. The negative relationship between high-activity playing and triglycerides was highest at the mean age of six. Among the four-year-old boys, playing outdoors correlated positively with serum HDL cholesterol concentration and the HDL/total ratio. At the age of five, physically active playing correlated positively with systolic blood pressure. The current family-based PAI study showed that it was possible to affect positively the physical activity and motor skills of preschool-aged children, as well as promote health by increasing physical activity.