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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 10, No. 3
Publication Date: June 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/aivp.103.12551. Fujii, K., Tanaka, N., Ishigaki, T., Sakai, T., & Hayakawa, K. (2022). Proposal for Growth and Development Evaluation Chart of Physical
Abilities in Preschool Children-Analysis Based on Wavelet Interpolation Model-. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(3). 692-
703.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Proposal for Growth and Development Evaluation Chart of
Physical Abilities in Preschool Children
-Analysis Based on Wavelet Interpolation Model- Katsunori Fujii
Graduate School of Business Administration and
Computer Science Aichi Institute of Technology, Toyota-city, Japan
Nozomi Tanaka
Department of Sport and Health Science
Tokai Gakuen University, Japan
Tohru Ishigaki
Department of Exercise and Health Science
Aichi University of the Arts, japan
Toshiro Sakai
Department of Lifelong Sports and Health Sciences
Chubu University, Japan
Kentaro Hayakawa
Early Childhood Studies
Nagoya Management Junior College, Japan
ABSTRACT
Growth and development evaluations of physical abilities (physique, motor ability)
in preschool children are generally done with uniform evaluation charts of
evaluation ranges based on cross-sectional data. In recent years, objective
evaluation methods with least squares approximation polynomials have also been
established. However, variability cannot be ruled out when using cross-sectional
data on the growth and development of physical abilities in preschool children, and
so physical development evaluations based on longitudinal changes with age,
taking date of birth into account, have not been established. Of course, there are
times when methods for constructing evaluations cannot be established. In this
study, we applied the wavelet interpolation model to physical ability measurements
corresponding to year and month of age, in order to evaluate growth and
development of physical abilities associated with longitudinal aging over three
years in boys 3 to 5 years old in Japan. First, standard age-related changes were
investigated. Physical growth fundamentally tends to occur gradually, but body
weight increases with slight fluctuations. In standard development of motor ability,
particularly in the 20-m dash, fluctuating trends were seen near 3 years old, but
there was a converging tendency in fluctuations associated with aging. In the tennis
ball throw, the biological variation was pronounced, and there were large
individual differences. Based on these trends, the effectiveness of applying the
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693
Fujii, K., Tanaka, N., Ishigaki, T., Sakai, T., & Hayakawa, K. (2022). Proposal for Growth and Development Evaluation Chart of Physical Abilities in
Preschool Children-Analysis Based on Wavelet Interpolation Model-. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(3). 692-703.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.103.12551
wavelet interpolation model became clear in this study. Hence, we applied the
wavelet interpolation model to the mean values and standard deviations for the
growth and development of physical abilities associated with aging over a span of
three years during early childhood, and constructed an age span evaluation chart.
With this evaluation chart, an evaluation that can correspond flexibly to growth and
development in physical ability could be said to have been constructed.
Keywords: physical ability; longitudinal data; span evaluation chart; wavelet
interpolation model.
INTRODUCTION
Most reports on physical growth in preschool children have been made possible with the
presentation of standard growth curves. However, there are very few reports on detailed
investigations of things other than changes in the mean values of motor ability development at
one-year intervals, with motor ability development being representative of physical abilities in
early childhood. In addition, there are few original articles on physical growth and development
in preschool children. In the preschool years, effects of the first growth period are still being
felt, and so there are also individual differences in the rapid decrease in the growth rate and the
process of transitioning to childhood and puberty while these effects continue. If one attempts
a detailed investigation of this process in units of month of age, the date of birth with
chronological age and time series information that corresponds to chronological age, regardless
of whether it is longitudinal or cross-sectional, is essential at minimum. Thus, since an objective
method of analysis cannot be guaranteed, this type of study is not seen as having value as an
original article. Togo and Togo, and Togo [1;2;3] performed monthly measurements of height
and weight in five children over a long period, one boy in particular was measured every month
from age 4 to age 29, and conducted a time series analysis. Kobayashi and Togo[4] also
conducted a time series analysis of height and weight measurements performed twice daily. If
one attempts to clearly verify seasonal fluctuations in this way, the time series analyses of Togo
and Togo [1;2] would seem to be useful. However, time series analyses are not useful in all
cases. Applied techniques differ depending on the span and measurement interval of the time
series information handled. For example, when analyzing data with different measurement
intervals, the interpolation function is somewhat crude and a smoothing method is sometimes
applied. In this regard, it is fundamentally the case that physical growth and development is
analyzed by applying least squares regression polynomials. However, in Japan there have been
a relatively large number of reports since around 1975 on the growth and development of
young children, with Matsuura, Nakamura, Kamioka, and Kobayashi et al.[5;6;7;8;9], but nearly
all were analyses of plotted growth and development distance values, and nothing much can
read with plots alone. That is, it is impossible to verify phenomena without analyzing the change
rate in growth and development. This would seem to be one reason for the slowdown in recent
years in research on physical growth and development of preschool children.
In the early childhood exercise guidelines of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology of Japan, acquisition of the different movements with each age during the
period from 3 to 6 years old is presented as acquisition of the characteristics and movements
of physical ability development in early childhood. However, even when the rough age when
the movements shown in each age group are identified, it must be kept in mind that there are
individual differences in these age groups. Moreover, the increase in the growth and
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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 3, June-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
development of physical abilities is not always uniform. In that sense, growth and development
evaluations that can correspond to the growth and development in physical abilities of
individuals may be needed. We therefore applied the wavelet interpolation model to the
preschool growth and development process. Then, from descriptions of that process, we
present findings on physical growth and development in preschool children by objectively
deriving the speed of growth and development, which could not be derived in nearly all
previous studies. In this study, we applied the wavelet interpolation model to measured values
for physical abilities (physique and motor ability) by calendar age to analyze a three-year span
in 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old boys in Japan. In this way, we attempted to propose a growth and
development chart for physical abilities associated with age-related changes in boys.
METHODS
Subject data
Physical abilities (physique and motor ability) were measured in boys (3 to 5 years old) in a
number of kindergartens in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 2009. The details of the survey and
measurements were explained to the subjects’ parents in advance, and their informed consent
was obtained. Data for a total of 177 children for whom data on all survey items was obtained
were used. This included data for 53 three-year-old boys, 57 four-year-old boys, and 67 five- year-old boys.
Evaluation measures
The physique items taken up in this study for boys’ physical abilities were height and weight.
Height was measured using an A&D Co., Ltd. digital height scale (AD-6227), and weight was
measured with a Tanita Corp. digital weight scale (WB-110). In measuring the motor ability
aspect of physical ability, four activities were used: the 20-m dash, standing long jump, tennis
ball throw, and jump over and pass under.
Measurement methods
In the 20-m dash, measurement was taken only one time. In the standing long jump,
measurements were taken two times, and the better of the two measurements was recorded.
In the tennis ball throw as well, measurements were taken two times, and the better of the two
measurements was recorded. In the jump over and pass under, the time was recorded from
jumping over a bar set at a height determined for each age from the starting point, and then
passing back under that bar. The set heights were 30 cm for 3-year-old boys, 33 cm for 4-year- old boys, and 35 cm for 5-year-old boys. These measurement items and methods were
developed by Akimaru and Akimaru et al, Fujii et al. have already made a valuable report, and
these items have been implemented for 40 years [10;11;12]. Therefore, the reliability of these
measurements in Japan is sufficiently ensured.
Wavelet Interpolation Model: WIM
The wavelet interpolation model is a way to interpolate between data points with a wavelet
function (the basis is Meyer’s mother wavelet) to approximately describe the true growth curve
from given growth data, after which an approximation of the true growth distance curve is
drawn. Those growth distance value curves are differentiated and growth velocity value curves
are derived to identify the growth distance at times such as the pubertal peak or the age at
menarche, and the age at maximum peak velocity (MPV). The features of the wavelet
interpolation model are that it sensitively reads local events and has a very high approximation