Top

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Research

Walking onset: a poor predictor for motor and cognitive skills in healthy preschool children

Authors: Nadine Messerli-Bürgy, Tanja H. Kakebeeke, Andrea H. Meyer, Amar Arhab, Annina E. Zysset, Kerstin Stülb, Claudia S. Leeger-Aschmann, Einat A. Schmutz, Susi Kriemler, Jardena J. Puder, Simone Munsch, Oskar G. Jenni

Published in: BMC Pediatrics | Issue 1/2021

Abstract

Background

The onset of walking is thought to be an indicator of early development. However, evidence is mixed and clear data on this relationship at preschool age is missing. The study aimed at investigating if walking onset and motor and cognitive development in preschool children are related.

Methods

A total of 555 children (mean age 3.86 years) of the Swiss Preschoolers’ Health Study SPLASHY were tested twice at their childcare center (at baseline and one year later). Motor skills and cognitive skills were assessed by standardized testing procedures and parents were asked to provide information on walking onset of their child.

Results

Late onset of walking was related to poorer motor skills (fine motor skills, static and dynamic balance (all p < 0.003)) and poorer cognitive skills (selective attention and visual perception (p = 0.02; p = 0.001) in late preschool age.

Conclusions

For children with late walking onset a close monitoring of their development in the regular pediatric child health visits may be reasonable.

Trial registration: ISRCTN41045021.

Butcher PR, van Braeckel K, Bouma A, Einspieler C, Stremmelaar EF, Bos AF. The quality of preterm infants' spontaneous movements: an early indicator of intelligence and behaviour at school age. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2009;50(8):920–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02066.x.

Ghassabian A, Sundaram R, Bell E, Bello SC, Kus C, Yeung E. Gross Motor Milestones and Subsequent Development. Pediatrics. 2016;e20154372. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-4372.

Jenni OG, Chaouch A, Caflisch J, Rousson V. Infant motor milestones: poor predictive value for outcome of healthy children. Acta Paediatr. 2013;102(4):e181–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.12129.

Murray GK, Veijola J, Moilanen K, Miettunen J, Glahn DC, Cannon TD, et al. Infant motor development is associated with adult cognitive categorisation in a longitudinal birth cohort study. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2006;47(1):25–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01450.x.

Taanila A, Murray GK, Jokelainen J, Isohanni M, Rantakallio P. Infant developmental milestones: a 31-year follow-up. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2005;47(09):581. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2005.tb01207.x.

Gibson JJ. The ecological approach to visual perception. Houghton-Mifflin: Boston, MA; 1979.

Gibson EJ. Exploratory behavior in the development of perceiving, acting, and the acquiring of knowledge. Annu Rev Psychol. 1988;39(1):1–42. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ps.39.020188.000245.

Newell KM. Constraints on the development of coordination. In: Wade MG, HTA W, editors. Motor Development in Children: Aspects of Coordination and Control. Boston: Nijhoff (Martinus); 1986. p. 341–06.CrossRef

Norval MA. Relationship of weight and length of infants at birth to the age at which they begin to walk alone. J Pediatr. 1947;30(6):676–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3476(47)80062-9.

10.

Adolph KE, Vereijken B, Shrout PE. What changes in infant walking and why. Child Dev. 2003. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624-7402011.

11.

Thelen E. Motor development. A new synthesis. Am Psychol. 1995;50(2):79–95. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.50.2.79.

12.

Clearfield MW, Osvorne CN, Mullen M. Learning by looking: infants’ social looking behavior across the transition from crawling to walking. J Exp Child Psychol. 2008;100(4):297–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2008.03.005.

13.

Clearfield MW. Learning to walk changes infants’ social interactions. Infant Behav Dev. 2011;34(1):15–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.04.008.

14.

Adolph KE, Hoch JE. Motor Development: embodied, embedded, enculturated, and enabling. Annu Rev Psychol. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102836.

15.

Murray GK, Jones PB, Kuh D, Richards M. Infant developmental milestones and subsequent cognitive function. Ann Neurol. 2007;62(2):128–36. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.21120.

16.

Messerli-Bürgy N, Kakebeeke TH, Arhab A, Stuelb K, Zysset AE, Leeger-Aschmann CS, et al. The Swiss Preschoolers' health study (SPLASHY): objectives and design of a prospective multi-site cohort study assessing psychological and physiological health in young children. BMC Pediatr. 2016;16(1):85. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-016-0617-7.

17.

Kakebeeke TH, Caflisch J, Chaouch A, Rousson V, Largo RH, Jenni OG. Neuromotor development in children. Part 3: motor performance in 3- to 5-year-olds. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2013;55(3):248–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.12034.

18.

Grob A, Giselle R, Gut J, Frischknecht MC. IDS-P Intelligence and Development Scales-Preschool - Intelligenz- und Entwicklungsskalen für das Vorschulalter. Berne, Switzerland: Hans Huber; 2013.

19.

Korkman M, Kirk U, Kemp S. NEPSY: A developmental neuropsychological assessment. San Antonio: 1998.

20.

Ganzeboom HBG. A new international socio-economic index [ISEI] of occupational status for the international standard classification of occupation 2008 [ISCO-08] constructed with data from the ISSP 2002–2007, with an analysis of quality of occupational measurement in ISSP. Lisbon: Paper presented at the Annual Conference of International Social Survey Programme; 2010.

21.

World Health Organization. ICD-10 : international statistical classification of diseases and related health problems: tenth revision, 2nd ed. World Health Organization; 2004. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/42980.

22.

R Software package R Core Team R. A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2020. https://www.R-project.org/.

23.

Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D, R Core Team. nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models. R Package Version 3.1-152. 2021. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme.

24.

De Sanctis R, Coratti G, Pasternak A, Montes J, Pane M, Mazzone ES, et al. Developmental milestones in type I spinal muscular atrophy. Neuromuscul Disord. 2016;26(11):754–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nmd.2016.10.002.

25.

Hanania R, Smith LB. Selective attention and attention switching: towards a unified developmental approach. Dev Sci. 2010;13(4):622–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00921.x.

26.

Sporns O, Edelman GM. Solving Bernstein's problem: a proposal for the development of coordinated movement by selection. Child Dev. 1993;64(4):960–81. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131321.

Title: Walking onset: a poor predictor for motor and cognitive skills in healthy preschool children
Authors: Nadine Messerli-Bürgy
Tanja H. Kakebeeke
Andrea H. Meyer
Amar Arhab
Annina E. Zysset
Kerstin Stülb
Claudia S. Leeger-Aschmann
Einat A. Schmutz
Susi Kriemler
Jardena J. Puder
Simone Munsch
Oskar G. Jenni
Publication date: 01-12-2021
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Pediatrics / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2431
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-021-02828-4

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Walking onset: a poor predictor for motor and cognitive skills in healthy preschool children

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2021

Prevalence of problematic feeding in young children born prematurely: a meta-analysis

Histological chorioamnionitis is associated with an increased risk of wheezing in preterm children less than 34 gestational weeks

Higher BMI predicts liver fibrosis among obese children and adolescents with NAFLD - an interventional pilot study

Genetic testing is necessary for correct diagnosis and treatment in patients with isolated methylmalonic aciduria: a case report

Assessment of feasibility and acceptability of family-centered care implemented at a neonatal intensive care unit in India

Association between handgrip strength and bone mineral density of Brazilian children and adolescents stratified by sex: a cross-sectional study