1. Physical Development of Children
Chapter 13
Physical Development of Children
© Gallahue, D.L., Ozmun, J.C., & Goodway, J.D. (2012). Understanding Motor Development. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin

2. Key Concept
The Physical Fitness of Children Has Been Assessed Through a Variety of Laboratory and Field-based Measures, and May Be Improved Through the Application of Appropriate Training Techniques

3. “Fitness” Defined
Physical Fitness Is a Positive State of Well-being Influenced by Regular Physical Activity, Genetic Make-up, and Nutritional Adequacy

4. Components of Health-related Fitness (Table 13.2)
Cardiovascular/Aerobic endurance
Muscular strength
Muscular endurance
Joint flexibility
Body composition

5. Cardiovascular/Aerobic Endurance (con’t)
Definition: the ability to perform numerous repetitions of a stressful activity requiring considerable use of the circulatory and respiratory systems
VO2 Max – the largest quantity of oxygen an individual can consume during physical work while breathing air at sea level
Measures of physical activity (activity self-reports, heart rate monitors, accelerometers)

6. Muscular Strength and Endurance (Table 13.1)
Muscular strength: the ability of the body to exert force
Muscular endurance: the ability of a muscle or a group of muscles to perform work repeatedly against moderate resistance
The Strength – Endurance continuum

7. Muscular Strength and Endurance (con’t)
Types
Isotonic
Isometric
Isokinetic
Measures of Strength/Endurance
Laboratory: dynamometers
Field: sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups

8. Muscular Strength and Endurance (cont.)
Developmental factors
Throughout childhood both boys and girls tend to make steady year-to-year improvements on most measures of muscular endurance with boys only slightly outperforming girls prior to puberty

9. Muscular Strength and Endurance (cont.)
Trainability (resistance training vs. weight lifting)
Training results
positive: strength enhancement, performance injury reduction, improved performance
negative: epiphyseal growth plate injuries

10. Joint Flexibility
Definition: the ability of the various joints of the body to move through their full range of motion
Static/Dynamic flexibility (static vs. ballistic stretching)
Joint specific

11. Joint Flexibility (con’t)
Developmental factors
Girls outperform boys
Preadolescent growth spurt (bone growth precedes muscle & tendon growth)
Trainability (“use it or loose it”)

12. Body Composition
Definition: proportion of lean body mass to fat body mass
Field measures
Skin-fold calipers
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Sedentary lifestyles and obesity

13. Components of Motor Fitness (Table 13.3)
Movement control factors:
-balance (static & dynamic)
-coordination (gross motor & eye-hand)
Force production factors:
-movement speed
-agility/quickness
-power

14. Coordination
Definition: the ability to integrate separate motor systems with varying sensory modalities into efficient patterns of movement
Gross motor examples: hopping, skipping, vertical & horizontal jumping
Eye-hand & eye-foot examples: bouncing, catching, throwing, kicking
Developmentally, gross body coordination and eye-hand and eye-foot coordination appear to improve with age in a roughly linear fashion

15. Balance
Definition: the ability to maintain the equilibrium of one’s body when it is placed in various positions
Vestibular apparatus (semicircular canals, otolith, macula)
Measures
Static: one foot balances,
Dynamic: walking board
Developmental factors
Linear improvements from 2-12
Girls more proficient up to age 7-8

16. Movement Speed
Definition: the ability to cover a short distance in as brief a time as possible
Reaction time & movement time
Measures: various short distance sprints
Developmental factors
Improvements occur linearly throughout childhood
No gender differences to age 6-7, boys faster at all later ages

17. Agility/Quickness
Definition: the ability to change the direction of the body rapidly and accurately
Measures: shuttle runs of various distances
Developmental factors
Improvements occur linearly throughout childhood
boys perform faster at all ages
agility performance of the most recent generation declined in almost every age group and for both boys and girls when compared to the scores recorded decades earlier

18. Power
Definition: the ability to perform a maximum effort in as short a period as possible
Explosive strength (strength x speed)
Measures: vertical jump, long jump, distance throw, velocity throw
Developmental factors
Linear improvements - early childhood through adolescence in boys, to in girls

19. Concluding Concept
Although the Components of Childhood Fitness Can Be Modified Through Training, We Need To Find Ways to Help Children Sustain Increased Physical Activity That Are Both Purposeful and Meaningful