Backgrounds: Structured physical education lessons in the preschool years plays an important role because it provides and promotes opportunities for physical activity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between motor ability and heart rate and physical activity during physical education lessons in preschool-aged children. Methods: 67 preschoolers were recruited from one preschool in Shiga, Japan (35 girls and 32 boys). We measured the subjects’ motor ability while performing 6 activities. The performance in each activity was rated on a 5-point scale (1-5), as outlined in a previous Japanese study. Physical education lessons for preschool children consisted of 9 exercises for 45 minutes. Heart rate was recorded on a heart rate monitor using a heart rate recorder (Polar). Physical activity was measured using an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT (USA), a triaxial accelerometer with a belt attached to the right hip to analyze exercise intensity and step counts. Result & discussion: The percentage of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during physical education lessons showed 31.8±7.8 %. The relationship between exercise intensity and standing long jump records during physical education lessons was positively correlated (r=0.393, p‹0.05). The sum of all exercise intensities during physical education lessons was positively correlated with the 25-m run, the standing long jump, the ball throw, and the total fitness scores (r=-0.477 to 0.522, p‹0.05, 0.01). These findings suggested that exercise intensity during physical education lessons in preschool children was related to their motor ability.
