1.Balance and Motor Skills among Preschool Children Aged 3 to 4 Years Old
Devinder Kaur Ajit Singh ; Nor Najwatul Akmal Akmal Ab Rahman ; Roslee Rajikan ; Asfarina Zainudin ; Nor Azlin Mohd Nordin ; Zainura Abdul Karim ; Yeap Hui Yee
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2015;11(1):63-68
Balance and motor skills are essential prerequisites for physical development of a child. The aims of this
study were to measure anthropometrics, postural balance and motor skills; and examine their correlation
among healthy preschool children. Forty nine healthy preschool children aged between 3 to 4 years old
participated from PERMATA preschool organization. Pediatric Balance Scale and Peabody Development
Motor Scale-2nd Edition (PDMS-2) were administered to measure balance skills for both fine and gross
motor skills respectively. Mann-Whitney U test demonstrated that there was no significant difference
in balance (p=0.72) and motor skill (p=0.33) between boys and girls. Spearman correlation coefficient
demonstrated that there was significant correlation between balance skills with height (r=0.45, p=0.001)
and body mass index(r=0.47, p=0.001). No significant correlation was found between balance skills
and motor skills (r=0.11, p=0.44). The present study suggests that balance skills in healthy preschool
children aged 3-4 years old are correlated with their physical growth such as height and weight but not
motor skills.