Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 24, 2025
The Impact of Motor Task Conditions on Goal-Directed Arm Reaching Kinematics and Trunk Compensation in Chronic Stroke Survivors
Published on: May 2, 2021
Gross motor skills trajectory variation between WEIRD and LMIC countries: A cross-cultural study
Nadia Cristina Valentini1, Glauber Carvalho Nobre2, Marcelo Gonçalves Duarte3
1Department of Physical Education, Physiotherapy, and Dance, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
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.
