EFFECT OF SEX, AGE, AND BMI ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCOMOTOR SKILLS AND OBJECT CONTROL SKILLS AMONG PRESCHOOL CHILDREN.

Purposive sampling was used to recruit 1,200 preschoolers between the ages of three and seven from 12 preschools throughout Taiwan in order to examine locomotor skills, object control skills, and fundamental motor skills with respect to sex, age, and body mass index (BMI). Fundamental motor skills were measured using the TGMD-2. Only age had a significant influence on locomotor skills, object control skills, and fundamental motor skills; sex had a small influence on object control skills, and BMI had a very limited influence on all three categories. The difference from previous studies related to BMI may be due to the different items included in the various tests, the number of trials conducted, and ways in which BMI was categorized.