Kyota Takami, School of Kinesiology visiting scholar, will present in the CEHD International Speaker Series on Thursday, February 27 in Burton Hall 227 from 12 – 1 p.m. The talk, “Physical fitness and physical activity environment of preschool children in Japan,” introduces a longitudinal study of changes in physical fitness in preschool children, and an intervention study. 

The research found that children’s physical fitness highly correlates with physical development. However, exercise that require skills, and those that require muscle endurance, have different periods of improvement between boys and girls. Therefore, although it is not necessary to provide children with training for each physical fitness element, these factors need to be taken into account when making childcare plans related to physical activity in kindergarten.