The impact of physical education teacher’s allocation in 244 kindergartens on the development of children’s physical health

Objective To explore the effect of physical education (PE) teacher’s allocation on physical health development of kindergarten children.

Methods Allocation of PE teachers and their promotion of children’s sports development in 244 kindergartens were investigated in Haidian District, Beijing through questionnaire survey and testing methods. Analysis was conducted based on data of questionnaire survey plus kindergarten children’s physical fitness tests.

Results Among the surveyed kindergartens, 52.46% kindergartens were supplied with PE teachers, of which 15.98% had full-time and 36.48% had part-time PE teachers. The physical fitness test scores of children in kindergartens supplied with PE teachers were significantly higher than those in kindergartens without, and the physical fitness test scores of children in kindergartens supplied with full-time PE teachers were significantly higher than those in kindergartens supplied with part-time PE teachers (all P < 0.001). In kindergartens supplied with part-time PE teachers, the more frequent the hiring, the better the physical fitness test scores of children. The physical fitness test scores of kindergarten children who hire part-time PE teachers once a week were significantly higher than those who hire them once a month or every semester (P < 0.001).

Conclusion Full-time and part-time (once a week) PE teachers can significantly promote children’s physical health development. It is recommended that the education administrative department should improve relevant management norms to provide evidence for the supplement of PE teachers in kindergartens, and further improve early childhood physical education and training system, strengthen professional training of existing preschool education teams, and take multiple measures to enhance the building ofearly childhood PE teaching staff.