Effect of the movement intervention program on the fundamental movement skills (FMS) of preschool children in the Czech Republic

Aims. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a six-month movement intervention program on the fundamental movement skills of preschool children and explore how parents of these children evaluate their children's skills. Sample and setting: The data collection was carried out for two years (2018-2020). An intervention group of 34 children and control group of 31 children were recruited from 3-6 years (mean age=4.98; SD=0.87) of two preschools in the Czech Republic. FMS were tested by BOT-2 and parents of the children filled out the questionnaire about the demographic data and their estimation of their children's FMS. Statistical analysis. . Mixed linear models were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention program and the differences between the objective and subjective results of FMS were assessed by parametric (paired sample t-test) and nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon test). Results. The results revealed only one significant change in the FMS in the subscale of bilateral coordination (beta=0.50; CI=0.17-0.82; p=0.003). Parents evaluated their children's FMS relatively accurately. Parents overestimated only the ability of the upper limb coordination (Z=-2.273, p=0.023). Limitations. . Quasi-experimental design, number of participants, testing of preschool children and premature termination of data collection due to COVID-19 may be considered to be limiting.