Gross motor skills trajectory variation between WEIRD and LMIC countries: A cross-cultural study

Nadia Cristina Valentini; Glauber Carvalho Nobre; Marcelo Gonçalves Duarte

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0267665

Gross motor skills trajectory variation between WEIRD and LMIC countries: A cross-cultural study

PLoS One. 2022 May 5;17(5):e0267665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267665. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Nadia Cristina Valentini¹, Glauber Carvalho Nobre², Marcelo Gonçalves Duarte³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education, Physiotherapy, and Dance, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
² Department of Physical Education and Sports, Instituto Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
³ Department of Physical Education, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Corumbá, Brazil.

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to examine the prevalence of delays and borderline impaired performance for Brazilian girls and boys and the differences in the motor trajectories (locomotor and ball skills) of girls and boys (3- to 10-years-old) across WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic) countries and Brazil-a low- and middle-income country (LMIC).

Methods: We assessed 1000 children (524 girls; 476 boys), 3- to 10.9-year-old (M = 6.9, SD = 2.1; Girls M = 6.9, SD = 2.0; Boys M = 6.9, SD = 2.1), using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3. Using systematic search, original studies investigating FMS in children using the TGMD-3 were eligible; 5 studies were eligible to have the results compared to the Brazilian sample. One sample t-test to run the secondary data from Irish, American, Finnish, and German children (i.e., mean, standard deviation).

Results: The prevalence of delays and borderline impaired performance was high among Brazilian girls (28.3% and 27.5%) and boys (10.6% and 22.7%). The cross-countries comparisons showed significant (p values from .048 and < .001) overall lower locomotor and ball skills scores for Brazilian children; the only exceptions were skipping, catching, and kicking. We observed stability in performance, across countries, after 8-years-old, and no ceiling effects were found in the samples.

Conclusions: The Brazilian sample emphasized the need for national strategies to foster children's motor proficiency. Differences in motor opportunities may explain the differences in motor trajectories between children in WEIRD and LMIC countries.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Developing Countries
Female
Humans
Male
Motor Skills*
Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena*
Poverty

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a grant from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES – PRINT (process number: 88887.373002/2019-00) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq (process number: 09/2018 -- 305707/2018-3). N.C.V. was supported by a fellowship from CNPq and CAPES – PRINT. There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.