Abstract
Aim: This study aimed to compare the MC levels of Brazilian and Portuguese schoolchildren from 4 to 11 years. Methods: One hundred and forty-eight Brazilian children were evaluated using the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA) instrument and were later compared to the existent normative values of Portuguese children for a similar age range. Results: Our findings showed that MC increased with age, and boys outperformed girls, especially in the older age group. The distribution of the Brazilian children showed that while Brazilian boys perform above Portuguese normative values in 4 of the 6 tasks of the MCA, Brazilian girls perform below those values in all tasks, except for the standing long jump. Conclusion: The differences found, especially in girls, may be related to differences in the Physical Education curricula and how school recess periods are used.
Highlights
Motor competence (MC) is understood as an underlying capacity that relates to a person's ability to perform on a broad range of motor skills, such as locomotion, stabilization, and object manipulation, that are fundamental for the acquisition of specialized movements in future life[1,2]
Southern Brazilian girls have the same number of physical education (PE) classes as southern Brazilian boys, our results showed that MC levels are below average compared to their counterparts
Our results suggest that there is a cultural influence on the levels of MC among southern Brazilian and Portuguese children
Summary
Motor competence (MC) is understood as an underlying capacity that relates to a person's ability to perform on a broad range of motor skills, such as locomotion, stabilization, and object manipulation, that are fundamental for the acquisition of specialized movements in future life[1,2]. Its development occurs along with lifespan, with special emphasis during childhood, involving interactions between the neuromuscular system and the environment[35]. Good levels of MC contribute to enhanced learning of new skills (i.e., faster acquisition of higher performance levels) and a higher motor proficiency on novel motor tasks throughout the lifespan[6]. There is a current growing interest of the scientific community on the role of MC, which has been positively associated with health-related fitness, health, and developmental outcomes[10,11]. Physical fitness is related to physical activity, both are related to children's MC2
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