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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-

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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 

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
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