Fitness and Motor Coordination

Every Friday my team of exercise science and physical therapy students head over to the local Boys and Girls Club to collect fitness data and to teach children ages 8-12 how to use a treadmill. Upon entering the club the children line up to have their turn on the treadmill with much enthusiasm, while they discover the dynamics of walking on a moving surface. Surprisingly, in these early stages our data has yet to form any distinct fitness trends related to body type. Before any experimentation had taken place, my initial assumption was that the older children were going to be able to maintain the endurance demands better than the younger ones, but the data did not show any significant evidence supporting this hypothesis. So, I then began asking more questions about the types of sports each child participated in and what their practice schedules were like. And, I began noticing that the children with athletic lifestyles were able to coordinate their posture on the treadmill better than the ones that did not participate in sport. Through this observation I began hypothesizing that the children with more athletic backgrounds were able to use less energy on the treadmill because of their ability to maintain the proper coordination pattern, which would lead to high fitness levels. Based on our data, this hypothesis has significance. Building on this hypothesis, my next assumption is that the assessment of children’s fitness levels could be inferred by their level of motor coordination, which could assist in identifying future fitness related illness—such as hypokinematic disease (disease related to sedentary lifestyle).

The next, and the current step I’m indulging in, is to research data that supports or disproves my hypothesis. Unfortunately, many of the articles I am finding have little to do with assessing coordination patterns as a precursor to sedentary-lifestyle diseases. Although, relevant research has been debating about the relationship between children with underdeveloped coordination and obesity. Some theorize, that the insecurities developed by lack of coordination inhibit these individual’s athletic aspirations, while others theorize that other personality traits (such as laziness) are the cause for the absence physical activity leading to underdeveloped coordination. So, the question remains: is lack of coordination due to lack of physical activity, or is a lack of physical activity due to underdeveloped coordination?

Based on my personal experience and brief observation, I lean towards the thought that coordination is developed through physical activity. Which opposes the thought that those with high coordination are drawn to physical activity. The unsettlement of this question propels me to inquire more information from personal testimonies. So, what do you think of this trend?