Balance, Proprioception, and Gross Motor Development of Chinese Children Aged 3 to 6 Years

ABSTRACT

The authors' aim was to find the features of balance, proprioception, and gross motor development of Chinese children 3–6 years old and their correlations, provide theoretical support for promoting children's motor development, and enrich the world theoretical system of motor development. This study used a Tekscan foot pressure measurement instrument (Tekscan, Inc., Boston, MA), walking on a balance beam, Xsens 3-dimensional positional measuring system (Xsens Technologies, Enschede, the Netherlands), and Test of Gross Motor Development-2 to assess static balance, dynamic balance, knee proprioception, and levels of gross motor development (GMD) of 3- to 6-year-old children (n = 60) in Beijing. The results are as follows: children had significant age differences in static balance, dynamic balance, proprioception, and levels of GMD; children had significant gender differences in static balance, proprioception, and levels of GMD; children's static balance, dynamic balance, and proprioception had a very significant positive correlation with GMD (p < .01), but no significant correlation with body mass index.

Keywords:

• Balance
• BMI
• correlations
• gross motor development
• proprioception

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank students of the Physical Education Institute of Beijing Normal University for their help with testing, and also thank the teachers from the kindergarten affiliated with the Beijing Institute of Education.

FUNDING

This study was supported by a grant from the China National Education Science Program from the National Social Science Foundation in 2015 (number: BLA150063).