Browsing by Author "McLachlan C"

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    Fundamental Movement Skills and Physical Activity of 3-4-Year-Old Children within Early Childhood Centers in New Zealand
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-08-27) Ali A; McLachlan C; McLaughlin T; Mugridge O; Conlon C; Mumme K; Knightbridge-Eager T
    We sought to describe and explore relationships between fundamental movement skills (FMS) and level of physical activity (PA; light-, medium-, vigorous, and kCal/hour) in preschool children, aged 3-4-years-old, across four early childhood education (ECE) settings. Children's FMS were assessed using the Test for Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2; n = 81) and PA via accelerometers (S = 53). Eighty-four children participated, with 50 in both assessments. The TGMD-2 showed as the children got older, their locomotor skills (p < 0.001, r = 0.512) and object control motor skills (p < 0.001, r = 0.383) improved. Accelerometry showed children were primarily inactive at ECE (78.3% of the time). There were significant correlations between kCal/hour and light (p < 0.001, r = -0.688), moderate (p < 0.001, r = 0.599) and vigorous (p < 0.001, rs = 0.707) activity, and between gross motor quotient and locomotor (p < 0.001, r = 0.798) and object control (p < 0.001, r = 0.367) skills. No correlation was observed between gross motor quotient and kCal/hour. To conclude, children in this cohort were primarily inactive during ECE center hours. Moreover, gross motor quotient was significantly correlated to locomotor and object control skills.
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    Southern African HIV Clinicians Society gender-affirming healthcare guideline for South Africa
    (AOSIS, 2021) Tomson A; McLachlan C; Wattrus C; Adams K; Addinall R; Bothma R; Jankelowitz L; Kotze E; Luvuno Z; Madlala N; Matyila S; Padavatan A; Pillay M; Rakumakoe MD; Tomson-Myburgh M; Venter WDF; de Vries E
    We support an affirming approach to managing the transgender and gender diverse (TGD) client, centering on the individual’s agency, autonomy and right to selfdetermination, as opposed to practices that pathologise and stigmatise transgender identity, imposing barriers to accessing healthcare services. Transgender and gender diverse individuals have long faced discrimination on multiple axes, both globally and in South Africa. Although South Africa enshrines the protection of human rights in its Constitution, TGD individuals continue to face marginalisation, prejudice and threats to their safety. Challenges, including homelessness, unemployment, poor social support, bullying, harassment and violence, persist, indicating failures of policy development, practice implementation and a disregard for the human rights of individuals in the TGD community. This guideline has been developed primarily with the intention of centering and amplifying voices of TGD individuals in order to facilitate access to healthare that is sensitive, skilled and respectful. We recognise that there are significant gaps in the knowledge and skills of healthcare providers, and there is a lack of understanding of the unique experiences faced by TGD persons. The prevailing sentiment that many healthcare providers hold around TGD individuals, informed by ignorance and conditioning within social and societal structures, are malevolent towards this community, and often include harmful assumptions and generalisations. We believe that healthcare providers have an ethical obligation to interrogate these notions, and we promote an attitude of respect for diversity that upholds human rights. It has been well established that access to competent and dignified gender-affirming healthcare (GAHC) is not only safe but also plays a significant role in improving measurable outcomes for TGD clients. It has also been well established that pathologising approaches and practices that limit access to care can be damaging and harmful. Finally, we recognise that TGD individuals have historically endured being undermined, condescended to and pitied by the healthcare system and its providers. We affirm a commitment to upholding a strength-based perspective that values and respects the experiences of TGD clients and celebrates their individual identity rather than merely accepting or tolerating it. This guideline, which no doubt will require ongoing revision, reflection and refinement in consultation with TGD communities and healthcare providers, represents a first step made in good faith towards creating a practical tool founded in robust scientific evidence, lodged within a human rights framework, and is intended to facilitate access to skilled and sensitive care that will yield tangible benefits to this unique and important group.
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    The Effect of a 10-Week Physical Activity Programme on Fundamental Movement Skills in 3-4-Year-Old Children within Early Childhood Education Centres.
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-06) Ali A; McLachlan C; Mugridge O; McLaughlin T; Conlon C; Clarke L; Delisle Nyström C
    The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a 10-week physical activity (PA) programme, in early childhood education (ECE) settings, on 3 and 4-year-old children's fundamental movement skills (FMS). A further aim was to examine FMS three-months post-intervention. The PA instructors delivered one 45 min session/week over 10 weeks, to 3- and 4-year-old children (n = 46), across four ECE centres. These sessions involved participation from ECE teachers. Children in the control group (CON; n = 20) received no PA classes and completed pre- and post-intervention assessments only. Locomotor (e.g., running/hopping) and object-control (e.g., kicking/throwing) skills were assessed using the Test for Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2), before and after the intervention and, for the intervention group (EXP), at 3 months. Locomotor and object-control skills significantly improved in the EXP group, with typically no change in the CON group. The EXP group's locomotor and object-control skills were maintained at 3 months. The 10-week PA intervention successfully improved 3- and 4-year-old children's FMS.