Motor performance of healthy children aged 3 to 10 years and differences between genders: systematic review

Abstract

Motor competence is the individual's proficient motor performance in motor skills, including coordination and motor control. Although previous literature has supported sex differences in motor competence, the results are controversial. This study aimed to review the publications on interventions in motor competence and synthesise the results of the comparison between sexes. This systematic and integrative review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines; terms related to children, motor competence and intervention were searched in Pubmed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science and CINAHL databases; publications in English and Portuguese in the last 15 years were included; the quality of the studies’ assessment used the Tool for the assEssment of Study qualiTy and reporting in Exercise (TESTEX) scale. Among the 31 articles included, there were no differences between sexes in 19 studies (61.3%); eight studies showed higher performance from boys, and five showed from girls; in two investigations, the superiority of motor performance of either sex depended on the skill analysed. In conclusion, in healthy children aged 3 to 10 years who are offered the same opportunities for practice, organised and systematic, the result in motor competence is positive and tends to be similar between sexes.