TITLE:
Intervention Effects of the School-Based Health Promotion Program “Join the Healthy Boat” on Motor Abilities of Children with Migration Background
AUTHORS:
Christine Lämmle, Olivia Wartha, Susanne Kobel, Tamara Wirt, Anne Kelso, Claire Kutzner, Jürgen M. Steinacker
KEYWORDS:
Physical Activity, Prevention, School-Based Intervention
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.9 No.3,
March
24,
2017
ABSTRACT: Purpose: Motor abilities of migrant children show worse performance compared with children without migration background. This study investigated whether a one-year intervention, which aimed to increase physical activity (PA), could influence the motor performance of these children positively. Methods: A sub-sample of 525 migrant children (7.1 ± 0.7 years; 48.6% male), participated in the study and included an intervention (IG) and control group (CG). The Dordel-Koch-Test was used to assess motor performance. An exploratory factor analysis was performed. Differences between IG and CG were examined using ANCOVA. Results: Boys in the IG showed a significant improvement in the conditional skills (F(1, 201) = 8.02, p ≤ 0.005) and girls showed a tendency towards better results. Additionally, girls showed a significant improvement in flexibility (F(1, 226) = 10.72, p ≤ 0.01) compared with the CG. Conclusion: The intervention affects parts of motor skills of migrant children significantly. Future interventions should aim at a target-group-specific promotion to get a holistic improvement in their motor abilities.