Fighting the Decline in Motor Fitness
Motor fitness is the foundation for all physical activity. Motor fitness involves balance, coordination, agility, and power. Fundamental motor fitness skills include, 1 locomotor skills, such as running,leaping, hopping, and jumping, 2 nonlocomotor skills, such as turning, twisting, swinging, and balancing and 3 movement awareness, or the abilities needed to conceptualize and form an effective response to sensory information to perform a specific motor task.
If individuals have a rich repertoire of motor fitness skills to draw from, it is easier to acquire sport skills, avoid injuries, and maintain an active lifestyle. Children who are physically active from an early age and have positive, enjoyable, and successful movement experiences in the early stages of life will likely continue to engage in and pursue activity on a regular basis. Chlidren with inadequate motor fitness skills often exclude themselves or are excluded by others from organized and free play experiences, and subsequently they are relegated to a lifetime of inactivity. Physical activity also helps combat obesity and other health problems.
There may be several causes for the decline in motor fitness among children. The appeal of watching television, playing video games, and surfing the Internet has caused many children to become more sedentary. Active participation in a broad range of movement actvities in Physical Education is essential to childrens overall development. Children can learn basic motor fitness skills when provided the appropriate physical education.
(JOPERD Jan. 2010)