A012: Relationship Between Physical Activity and Fundamental Movement Skills and Mental Health in Elementary School Children

The prevalence of child and adolescent mental health problems has increased in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the association of Chinese elementary school children’s physical activity, fundamental movement skills (FMS), and mental health. Participants were 437 three to six-grade students (196 boys vs. 241 girls; mean age = 10.29 years old; SD = 0.072) at five elementary schools’ children from the province of Hunan in China. The children’s physical activity, FMS, and mental health were measured using the physical activity questionnaire for the older children, the Test of Gross Motor Development-Third Edition (TGMD-3), and the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, respectively. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, Pearson, and linear regression models. The results of the mean and standard deviation showed that the students’ physical activity was generally at a moderate level (M = 2.78, SD = 0.71) in the total group. The boys’ mean scores of physical activities, FMS, and ball skills were higher than the girls ‘(ρ < 0.01). The result of linear regression models showed that physical activity was positively associated with FMS (F (1,433) = 16.006, ρ < 0.001), mental health (F (1,433) = 24.220, ρ < 0.001). Also, FMS were significantly associated with mental health (F (1,433) = 3.2119, ρ < 0.01). Conclusion: Chinese elementary school children’s physical activity is significantly related to both FMS and mental health. Physical activity was a significant contributor predicting FMS in elementary school children. Also, physical activity and FMS are significant predictors of mental health in elementary school children, respectively. Improving the level of physical activity and FMS can effectively promote elementary school children’s mental health.