Explorando a noção de prontidão motora. Uma aplicação ao estudo da aptidão física de crianças dos 6 aos 9 anos de idade

This study aims (1) at the description of motor readiness of children of the first cycle of schooling based on their physical fitness multidimensional profile, and (2) to verify the presence of different motor readiness status according to schooling year. Sample size comprises 2534 children aged from 6 to 9 years of both gender (girls=1242; boys=1292) from the basic school of the Amarante county (north of Portugal). Physical fitness was assessed with the Fitnessgram test battery. Intraclass correlation coefficient (R) and canonical correlation (Rc) were used to evaluate data quality. Manova and discriminant function were used as statistical tools to gather information about motor readiness. SPSS software was utilized in all computations. Results showed high quality, R=0.80 e Rc=0.70. Although statistical differences were found in multidimensional profiles of motor fitness (p<0.05), it was not possible to identify clear patterns of motor readiness in each schooling year (correct classification=39%). Physical education teachers should be very attentive to these results, mainly in their didactical and methodological suggestions facing the strong heterogeneity of children's motor readiness in each school year.