Bioecological factors associated with gross motor skills of preschool children

ABSTRACTMotor skills during early childhood play a significant role in child development. We used the bioecological model to determine the bioecological factors associated with preschool children's gross motor skills (GMS). The GMS of randomly sampled 280 children were tested using a standardized checklist. The background variables theoretically framed in process, person and context characteristics were applied for multilevel logistic regression models. The children whose parents engaged daily in child-stimulating activities and who had family income above the mean were 2.3 times more likely to have normal GMS. Moreover, the children from the schools equipped with toys were 2.7 times more likely to be normal. Interestingly, the children who had teachers with higher degrees and more extended experience were less likely to be normal in GMS, demanding further exploration. Therefore, national child development policies and programmes should ensure parental support and the provision of motivated teachers.KEYWORDS: Bioecological modelgross motor skillspreschool childrenparental engagement AcknowledgementsThe authors thank all the research participants and schools included in the study.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThe article is based on PhD research of the first author, which received a PhD research fellowship award from the University Grants Commission of Nepal.Notes on contributorsBelpatra Nath YogiBelpatra Nath Yogi is a Lecturer of health and physical education at Tribhuvan University, and currently a Ph.D. candidate at Graduate School of Education, Tribhuvan University who has been awarded a Ph.D. research fellowship from University Grants Commission Nepal. His research focuses the area of preschool children's health, learning and development, early marriage, and gender and sexual minorities. He has about 18 years of teaching experience at Tribhuvan University of Nepal.Bhimsen DevkotaDr. Bhimsen Devkota is a professor of health education at Tribhuvan University and Chairperson of Health Education Association of Nepal (HEAN) who did his Ph.D. in Public Health and Health Services Research from Aberdeen University, Scotland, UK. He has published a dozen books, over 80 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters, in addition to his extensive teaching experience of more than 30 years at Tribhuvan University of Nepal.