Long-term effectiveness of a fundamental movement skill intervention in Belgian children: A 6 year follow-up

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the long term effectiveness of the “Multimove for kids” program, a fundamental movement skill (FMS) intervention for typically developing children aged between 3 and 8 years. The “Multimove for kids” program (consisting of 30 weekly sessions focusing on FMS development) had positive short term effects on motor competence as established in a pre-post design (Bardid et al., 2017). The main aim of the current study is to investigate to what extent this ‘boost’ in motor development remains 6 years later. Method: Baseline measurements included anthropometrics (body height and weight) and the Test of Gross Motor Development, 2nd Edition (TGMD-2). Of the original sample of 992 children, who were assessed pre and post intervention (Bardid et al., 2017), 399 were tested again at a follow-up moment 6 years later (response rate of 40.2%). Of this latter sample, 228 children originally were part of the intervention (125 boys, 103 girls, age: 11.82±1.41 years) and 171 of them belonged to the control group (91 boys, 80 girls, age: 10.79 ± 1.17years). A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to reveal the long term effectiveness of the “Multimove for kids” program on the level of FMS (taking the pre-test, post-test and follow-up measurement into account). Results: The results showed that the effect of time on the motor quotient of the TGMD-2 was significantly different for those children who participated in the FMS intervention when compared to their peers in the control group (F=14.315, p<.001). Contrasts confirmed the earlier finding of Bardid et al. (2017), namely that the intervention group improved their level of FMS more than the control group during the intervention program of 30 weeks (F=18.477, p<0.001). In the long term, a significant group x time interaction (from post-test to follow-up) emerged (F=24.023, p<0.001). A closer look at the data revealed that the short term benefits of the “Multimove for kids” program washed out over time in the intervention group, resulting in similar TGMD-2 scores as the control group after 6 years. Additionally, a repeated measures ANOVA with only the two extreme time points (pre-test and follow-up measurement) revealed that the progression in the level of FMS over a period of 6 years was similar for the intervention and the control group (F=2.600; p=0.108). Overall, there was no significant difference in the evolution of the level of FMS over time in boys and girls (F=0.142, p=0.851). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the effect on the level of FMS of a one-season “Multimove for kids” intervention does not appear to last over a long period of time. It is plausible that other factors will have more dominant effects on the long term development of FMS in children. Therefore, unexplored data on the year-long sport participation and motivation of the participating children will be analyzed and presented.