New Melbourne University trial gives prem-born kids sports kickstart with free gym, dance, swim lessons

Free gymnastics, dance, sport and swim classes will be offered to young children who were born premature in a bid to improve their physical health. See how to score your kids a spot.

A new Melbourne University trial is hoping to get preemie kids moving with free gumnastics, dance and sport lessons. Picture: Jason Edwards

Free gymnastics, dance, sport and swim classes will be offered to young children who were born premature in a bid to improve their physical health.

Kids who were born extremely early are less physically active than their peers, but a new Melbourne University trial hopes to flip this issue on its head and get kids aged 3 to 5 up and moving.

Melbourne University Physiotherapist Professor Alicia Spittle said children who were born before 32 weeks gestation faced various health challenges.

“These children have increased risk of having problems with their development in terms of their motor development and their cognitive and behavioural development but also in terms of their exercise capacity and their lung development,” she said.

Zoey, 3, was born premature at just 25.5 weeks, but is now thriving and loves being active. Picture: Jason Edwards

She said they wanted to find a sustainable way to improve these children’s developmental outcomes, and believed encouraging them to be active at a young age — in an activity of their choice — can have a “lifelong impact”.

“Not only on their physical health but also their cognitive . . . their behavioural development and lung development as well,” she said.

The children’s activity levels will be measured using accelerometers before and after the program, with families reimbursed for their child to participate in a community sporting or physical activity.

“The main thing that we expect to see improve is the amount of physical activity that they do and that they have less sedentary time and better sleep,” Prof Spittle said.

“We do also hope it does improve their bone health, their aerobic fitness and their muscular strength.

“We have the best chance at building an active lifestyle if we can engage children at a young age.”

The new program will offer families reimbursement for their child to participate in a community sporting or physical activity. Picture: Jason Edwards

Professor Spittle said some children who were born premature exercised less because of health barriers, but some were also held back by misconceptions about their abilities.

“There can also be that concern from parents or other people in the community that we need to wrap these children up in cotton wool and be very protective of them,” she said.

She said part of the program would therefore include upskilling parents and coaches about the benefits of physical activity for such children.

“We up-skill coaches to be inclusive of children who are born preterm and understand their particular developmental challenges and how they can support them,” she said.

The Active-Prem trial started recruitment a few months ago and has about 200 spots open.

The trial will pay one term of an activity of the child’s choosing.

Prof Spittle said the focus wasn’t on choosing a particular type of sporting activity, and the best physical activity is the one you — or your child in this case — is most likely to do.

Melbourne mum Katie has encouraged her daughter to get involved in physical activities to benefit her health. Picture: Jason Edwards

Zoey, 3, loves her gymnastics classes. Picture: Jason Edwards

Melbourne mum Katie said she had always encouraged her daughter Zoey, who was born at just 25 weeks and five days, to try out different classes and physical activities.

“It just gave her so much joy and confidence,” she said.

“We started swimming at a pretty young age.

“She was in the pool with her feeding tube.

“It was probably confronting for other families . . . but we pushed through the looks.

“It was the best thing for Zoey.”

She said Zoey, now aged 3 and taking part in gymnastics class as part of the trial, was “thriving”.

“She loves jumping on the trampoline, she loves doing her somersaults,” she said.

“She’s so happy, she’s so determined.

“She laughs everything off, ‘oh I can’t do that particular thing but that’s cool’ and we’ll laugh it off and try something else.”

Originally published as New Melbourne University trial gives prem-born kids sports kickstart with free gym, dance, swim lessons