Relationships between maturity status, physical activity and physical self-perceptions in primary school children

摘要

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of maturity status on primary school children\u27s physical activity and physical self-perceptions. Altogether, 175 children (97 girls, 78 boys) aged 10.6 ± 0.3 years completed the Children and Youth Physical Self-Perception Profile and wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for five consecutive days to assess moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Anthropometric measures were completed to estimate maturity status. A two-level, multi-level analysis was used to assess the influence of maturity status on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and physical self-perceptions. Boys performed more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity than girls ( < 0.0001), but when the effect of maturity status was controlled the difference was reduced ( = 0.02). Significant differences between the sexes were also observed for physical self-perception sub-domains (boys > girls, = 0.02 to 0.0001). When maturity status was added to the model, significant differences were no longer apparent for each sub-domain, with the exception of perceived strength. Significant interactions between gender and maturity status revealed that boys\u27 physical self-perceptions improved with more advanced maturity status, whereas girls\u27 self-perceptions decreased ( = 0.07 to 0.002). Significant differences between the sexes in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and some domains of physical self-perceptions were reduced or no longer evident when the effect of maturity status was controlled. Maturity status may differentially influence boys\u27 and girls\u27 physical self-perceptions.