Comparison of Mobility Behavior of Children from a Physical Education Kindergarten with Children from a Regular Kindergarten

Mobility in the sense of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health ICF-CY is an important prerequisite for participation in everyday life. The present study aims to show to what extent a movement promotion program in kindergarten has an effect on mobility behavior. Methods: The sample consists of 46 boys and 34 girls (age 4.51 ± .98 years) from one regular and one physical education kindergarten. The MobiScreen 4-6 was performed. Group differences were examined using a t-test, and multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the effects of the predictors kindergarten affiliation, age, sex, born premature, sports club membership, and number of sports hours in the club. Results: Total time shows a strong multiple coefficient of R = .75 with an explained variance of R² = .57; total score also shows strong values of R = .59 and R² = .35. Age and sports club membership are the strongest predictors for both variables. Conclusions: Since raw values are analyzed for total time and score, the high influence of age is obvious. The effect of sports club membership indicates that the children may be better supported in their free time than in the concept of physical education kindergarten. Therefore, the concept of the physical education kindergarten should be reviewed and standardized.