Comparison of the motor development of children aged 6 to 10 years participating in a social project and of children who do not participate, in the city of Porto Alegre, RS

Abstract

Introduction: The social projects serve to take the street children who in their free time would be in vulnerable situations, providing the most diverse activities that will help to develop motor, social and cognitive capacities.

Objective: To verify the motor development of students aged 6 to 10 years, participating in a social project located in the city of Porto Alegre, RS, comparing them with children who were not part of project and did not practice any extracurricular activities.

Method: The sample consisted of 39 individuals, who were divided into two groups: those who participated in the project for at least 4 months and at most 3 years (G1, n = 13), and those who did not participate in the project, but whose subjects studied at a school in the same region (G2; n = 26). The Motor Development Scale tests (developed by Rosa Neto, 2002) were applied in both groups, in order to evaluate whether the children have their psychomotor age according to their chronological age.

Results and conclusions: The differences between the groups were statistically significant for the General Motor Quotient (GMQ), with the G1 obtained score of average normal and G2, of low normal. In MQ1 (fine motor), there were statistically significant differences and G1 obtained an average normal score, and those of G2 presented a low normal score. The same happened with the variables MQ2 and MQ3. In MQ2 (global motricity), G1 presented high normal result and G2, low normal; in MQ3 (balance), G1 had a average normal score and a G2, low normal score. In the other variables, there were differences between the groups, but these were not statistically significant.