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Educating the Student Body
relationship changes across developmental stages is crucial for curriculum
development and delivery and teaching practices.
Lubans and colleagues (2010) recently examined the relationship
between motor competence and health outcomes. They reviewed 21 studies
identifying relationships between fundamental motor skills and self-worth,
perceived physical competence, muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness,
weight status, flexibility, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Overall,
the studies found a positive association between fundamental motor skills
and physical activity in children and adolescents, as well as a positive rela-
tionship between fundamental motor skills and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Other research findings support the hypothesis that the most physically
active preschool-age (Fisher et al., 2005; Williams et al., 2008; Robinson et
al., 2012), elementary school–age (Bouffard et al., 1996; Graf et al., 2004;
Wrotniak et al., 2006; Hume et al., 2008; Lopes et al., 2011), and adoles-
cent (Okely et al., 2001) youth are also the most skilled.
An advantage of the “proficiency barrier” hypothesis proposed by
Seefeldt (1980) is its recognition that the relationship between motor
competence and physical activity may not be linear. Rather, the hypothesis
suggests that physical activity is influenced when a certain level of motor
competence is not achieved and acknowledges that below the proficiency
barrier, there is bound to be substantial variation in children’s motor
competence and participation in physical activity. The proficiency barrier
is located between the fundamental and transitional motor skills periods.
The transition between these two levels of motor competence is expected
to occur between the early and middle childhood years. Stodden and col-
leagues (2008) suggest that the relationship between motor competence and
physical activity is dynamic and changes across time. In their model the
“development of motor skill competence is a primary underlying mecha-
nism that promotes engagement in physical activity” (p. 290).
The relationship between skills and physical activity is considered
reciprocal. It is expected that as motor skills competence increases, physi-
cal activity participation also increases and that the increased participa-
tion feeds back into motor skills competence. The reciprocal relationship
between motor skills competence and physical activity is weak during the
early childhood years (ages 2-8) because of a variety of factors, including
environmental conditions, parental influences, and previous experience
in physical education programs (Stodden et al., 2008). Also, children at
this age are less able to distinguish accurately between perceived physical
competence and actual motor skills competence (Harter and Pike, 1984;
Goodway and Rudisill, 1997; Robinson and Goodway, 2009; Robinson,
2011), and thus motor skills are not expected to strongly influence physi-
cal activity. The literature supports this hypothesis, as indicated by low to
moderate correlations between motor skills competence and physical activ-
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
Relationship to Growth, Development, and Health
109
ity in preschool (Sääkslahti et al., 1999; Williams et al., 2008; Cliff et al.,
2009; Robinson and Goodway, 2009; Robinson, 2011) and early elemen-
tary school–age (Raudsepp and Päll, 2006; Hume et al., 2008; Morgan et
al., 2008; Houwen et al., 2009; Ziviani et al., 2009; Lopes et al., 2011)
children.
In older children, perceived competence is more closely related to actual
motor skills competence. Older, low-skilled children are aware of their
skills level and are more likely to perceive physical activity as difficult and
challenging. Older children who are not equipped with the necessary skills
to engage in physical activity that requires high levels of motor skills com-
petence may not want to display their low competence publicly. As children
transition into adolescence and early adulthood, the relationship between
motor skills competence and physical activity may strengthen (Stodden et
al., 2008). Investigators report moderate correlations between motor skills
competence and physical activity in middle school–age children (Reed et
al., 2004; Jaakkola et al., 2009). Okely and colleagues (2001) found that
motor skills competence was significantly associated with participation in
organized physical activity (i.e., regular and structured experiences related
to physical activity) as measured by self-reports. A strength of the model of
Stodden and colleagues (2008) is the inclusion of factors related to psycho-
social health and development that may influence the relationship between
motor skills competence and physical activity, contributing to the develop-
ment and maintenance of obesity. Other studies have found that perceived
competence plays a role in engagement in physical activity (Ferrer-Caja and
Weiss, 2000; Sollerhed et al., 2008).
Motor skills competence is an important factor; however, it is only
one of many factors that contribute to physical activity. For instance, three
studies have reported negative correlations between girls’ motor competence
and physical activity (Reed et al., 2004; Cliff et al., 2009; Ziviani et al.,
2009), suggesting that sex may be another determining factor. A possible
explanation for these findings is that since girls tend to be less active than
boys, it may be more difficult to detect differences in physical activity levels
between high- and low-skilled girls. It is also possible that out-of-school
opportunities for physical activity are more likely to meet the interests of
boys, which may at least partially explain sex differences in physical activity
levels (Le Masurier et al., 2005). Previous research suggests that in general
boys are more motor competent than girls (Graf et al., 2004; Barnett et
al., 2009; Lopes et al., 2011) and that this trend, which is less apparent in
early childhood, increases through adolescence (Thomas and French, 1985;
Thomas and Thomas, 1988; Thomas, 1994), although one study reports
that girls are more motor competent than boys (Cliff et al., 2009).
One component of motor competence is the performance of gross
motor skills, which are typically classified into object control and
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
110
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