Relationship of Fitness and Gross Motor Skills for Five- to Six-Yr.-Old Children

51 kindergarten children participated to assess how various fitness components, ½-mile run, the Prudential PACER test, body composition, shoulder stretch, trunk lift, sit-and-reach, curl-up, and flex arm-hang related to motor performance on the Bruininks-Oseretsky test battery including running, speed, agility, balance, bilateral coordination, and strength. All values recorded in the fitness components were compared with standardized motor skill scores. Analysis indicated that ½-mile run performance was significantly correlated with body weight and relative body fat, showing that as body weight or relative body fat increased run performance times were slower. Comparisons between the fitness parameters and motor skills indicated that the ½-mile run performance also was negatively correlated with measures of balance, bilateral coordination, and strength while the Prudential PACER test was positively correlated with strength. During continuous walk-jog movements (half-mile run) in a relatively homogeneous sample, increases in body size improved balance, bilateral coordination, and strength but negatively affected running during the ½-mile fitness test. In more interval-related activities such as the Prudential PACER test, an increase in strength was related to improved performance.