Motor performance and bodyweight of children and adolescents in Saarland -- status quo

Abstract

The motor performance of children and adolescents has been a subject of controversial discussion. As part of a pilot project, 839 schoolchildren from 14 different schools in Saarland were studied and their height, weight and sport motor performance were measured using the German motor performance test DMT 6-18. The results show a slight increase in the number of overweight children compared to reference samples. However, these discrepancies are minor and cannot be judged to be practically relevant because of the weakness of the effects. The average motor test performances of the Saarland schoolchildren were above the average performance of the reference samples in almost all individual performances. There are also hardly any weaker performances in comparison to older studies. The current results for motor performance of Saarland children and adolescents do not, therefore, give any great reason for concern. Further evaluation steps will be needed to clarify the influences that might be associated with adverse characteristics for motor performance (socio-economic status, living situation, leisure behaviour, school performance, etc.).