The existence of adolescent growth spurts (PHV, Peak Height Velocity) has long been the norm for human height growth theory. However, according to Ohsawa's report, the hunter-gatherer Mlaburi, who lived in the forests of Thailand and Laos, did not see the adolescent growth spurt of their stature. The study reexamined this issue from growth data for the hunter-gatherer Salone (Moken) living in the Andaman Waters of Myanmar. As a result, similar to Mlabri, the adolescent growth spurt (PHV) could not be observed in Salone. The growth period of Salone was very long, and stature continued to grow to nearly 20 years of age.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between gender differences in pelvic deformation and physical factors in children. The subjects were 19 boys aged 11 years or younger and 16 girls aged 9 years or younger, allegedly not having puberty. The external pelvimetry values, age and physique were investigated. The degree of pelvic opening and torsion was calculated from the external pelvimetry values. The results showed no gender differences, except that the value corresponding to the distance between ASIS divided by height was significantly higher in girls. The degree of pelvic opening was dependent on the distance of lateral diameter of sacrum. There was no gender difference in the degree of pelvic torsion that causes abnormal delivery and sacroiliac joint pain. In addition, it was found that there was a certain amount of torsion from childhood.

［Purpose］The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical fitness and attitude for sports and physical education class, school life, academic achievement, and parenting attitude. Moreover, we also aimed to determine the requirements for belonging to the high physical fitness group. ［Method］A survey was conducted among 1891 fifth and sixth grade children from elementary schools to analyze the attitude for sports and physical education class, school life, academic achievement, and parenting attitude. The records of physical fitness tests of children were also obtained from the respective schools. One-way ANOVA was used to examine the differences in the average of evaluation value in each factor by physical fitness level. The requirements for belonging to the high physical fitness group were determined using decision tree analysis. ［Results and Discussion］Significant differences were found among every physical fitness level in intention for sports, attitude for physical education class, and academic achievement. In order to belong to the high physical fitness group, the most important factor was the attitude towards physical education class, followed by the academic achievement above the average level, and the high intention for sports. The findings suggest that in addition to the efforts aimed to increase opportunities and amount of physical activity, efforts to cultivate children's attitudes and intentions, including improving academic ability, will be crucial in the future.

This study examined how the size of playground in the nursery school is related to children's levels of physical activity in playing outdoor (in the playground and outside of the school) and physical ability. We measured physical activity levels of 42 children at 3, 4, and 5 years old, by accelerometer during nursery care for ten days.

We found the following:

(1) that the steps/hour of children at School B with a larger playground was higher than that of children at School A with a smaller playground in 3 and 4 years old, but was not in 5 years old, and

(2) that there was a significant difference between two schools running-activity (LC7-9) time at all ages; School B was more than School A, however,

(3) as a result of two-way ANOVA (schools vs ages) for physical ability, main effect by schools was not significant between two schools, main effect by ages was significant, and

(4) there was a cross-correlation between steps/hour at 3 years old and jumping over at 4 years old, a running-activity time at 3 years old and jumping over at 4 years old.

The playground size did not affect the physical ability, but it affected an activity levels in the playground, which was related to outdoor play in the playground and outside of the school). In conclusion, that outdoor play outside the school is not a substitute for outdoor play in the playground.

In this paper, we examined the impact of watching a bubble tube, a type of Snoezelen device, on physiological indices of both students with intellectual disabilities and healthy students in multisensory environments, noting the significance of developmental support in multisensory environments. Psychological statistics showed that heart rate is significantly lower at the 5％ level at 5 and 10 minutes after starting class a dark environment than in a brightly-lit environment, for both students with intellectual disabilities and healthy students. There was no significant difference in percutaneous arterial oxygen saturation (SpO₂) prior to starting, or at 5 minutes and 10 minutes after starting, suggesting that the tube affects cardiopulmonary function more than respiratory function. Among students with intellectual disabilities, behavioral changes such as stabilization of emotions and sleepiness were observed. In this study, it was suggested that a dim multisensory environment helps both children with intellectual disabilities and healthy students to control visual stimuli, leading to psychological stability.

Background: Regarding physical activity of infants, it is necessary to focus on fundamental movement and physical activity, but there has been no study on both fundamental movement and physical activity on the motor play of infants.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to capture the features of the infant fundamental movement and physical activity at different motor play situation.

Methods: We performed motor play in the different play environments of simultaneous teaching type and free play type for 5-year-old children (n=89). Fundamental movement was investigated using the direct observation method. Physical activity was investigated using an accelerometer.

Results: In the free play type, the type and frequency of fundamental movements were higher than in the simultaneous teaching type. On the other hand, simultaneous teaching type showed higher middle and high intensity activity than free play type.

Conclusion: In this study, simultaneous teaching type motor play showed more positive results for physical activity and free play type motor play for fundamental movements.

This study aimed to examine not only the daily physical activities but also their variations among public nursery school children during the winter season in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The subjects were 119 children (61 boys and 58 girls) from eight public nursery schools in Ishikawa Prefecture. Measurement items included physical activity such as number of steps walked and moderate-to-vigorous physical activities (MVPA), which were measured using an accelerometer (Omron Co., Ltd, Active style Pro HJA-750 C). The cutoff value of MVPA was set at 4 Mets. We observed children's physical activities at nursery schools in the morning and evening over four weekdays in November 2019 and January 2020.

During the survey period, there was no significant difference in the amount of precipitation in November (7.9±5.1 mm) and January (8.4±2.0 mm). However, the maximum temperature (November: 14.6±1.0℃; January: 9.4±1.3℃), minimum temperature (November: 6.0±1.2℃; January: 4.2±1.5℃) and daylight hours (November: 3.2±1.2 hours; January: 1.3±0.7 hours) were significantly lower in January than in November.

The main findings were as follows.

1) The weekday average number of steps walked at nursery schools increased from November (5393±1589 steps) to January(5928±1868 steps).

2) The weekday average MVPA at nursery schools increased from November (56.8±27.3 min) to January (62.9±28.8 min).

3) The changes in physical activities in eight public nursery schools differed based on the prevailing circumstances in November and January.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the gender and grade differences in the movements that compose the straddle vault of elementary school children. Participants included 453 children (220 boys and 233 girls) from the third to the sixth grade. They performed the straddle vault; their movements were recorded using a video camera from the front and left sides. After the assessment by the observational evaluation criteria and selecting the effective items for the analysis, the item parameters were estimated using the graded response model of the item response theory. For each item, the differential item functioning (DIF) was detected using the likelihood ratio test with gender and grade as conditions.

The results are summarized as follows:

1. In girls, the difficulty of making a body axis, grounding on the forefoot, and extending the legs during a springy take‒off are higher than in boys.

2. In boys, the difficulty of directing their eyes to the landing position when releasing hands from the box is higher than in girls.

3. In the third and fourth grades, the difficulty of keeping arms close, touching both feet at the same time, and extending the legs at the take‒off phase are higher than that in the fifth and sixth grades.

4. In the fifth and sixth grades, the difficulty of making a static posture on landing is higher than that in the third and fourth grades.