Cross-Cultural Aspects: Exploring Motor Competence Among 7- to 8-Year-Old Children From Greece, Italy, and Norway

Abstract

Motor development is affected by maturation and growth but also influenced by the specific environmental and cultural context. Therefore, cross-cultural research can provide information about how different cultural contexts, lifestyles, and physical activity contexts can influence the process of developing motor competence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate aspects of motor competence among children from different cultural backgrounds. The sample of 463 children from 6 to 8 years consisting of 132 Greek children (52.3 % boys), 126 Italian children (53.9 % boys), and 205 Norwegian children (52.7) completed the Test of Motor Competence (TMC) including two fine motor tasks-Placing Bricks and Building Bricks-and two gross motor tasks-Heel to Toe Walking and Walking/Running in Slopes. The results indicate that the Norwegian children performed better in all tests; the differences were statistically significant in all four tasks compared with Italian children and in two tasks compared with the Greek children (Building Bricks and Heel to Toe Walking). Greek children performed significantly better than the Italians in two tasks: Placing Bricks and Heel to Toe Walking. Italian children were significantly faster than the Greek ones in one task: Walking/Running in Slopes. The differences in terms of levels of basic fine and gross motor skills between children from the different countries may be a consequence of both different physical activity contexts and cultural policies, attitudes, and habits toward movement.

Interrelation of Individual, Country and Activity Constraints in Motor Activities of Daily Living among Typically Developing Children: A Cross-sectional Comparison of Spanish and Dutch Populations

“…One country-related factor in explaining these findings could be the existing differences in physical activity rates between European regions, as low participation in physical activities has been previously associated with risk for DCD and poor moto competence [6,8,47,48]. However, the results of studies investigating differences in participation in physical activity across European countries are inconclusive [47].…”

Comparison of motor competence in children aged 6‐9 years across northern, central, and southern European regions

“…For instance, 6‐ to 8‐year‐old Belgian children outperform their Australian peers in motor coordination, 4‐ to 5‐year‐old Belgian children outperform children in the United States in object control and locomotor skills, and 4‐ to 6‐year‐old Chinese children outperform their peers in the United States in manual dexterity and balance (although the children in the United States outperform their Chinese peers in throwing and catching) . Differences have also been found in MC in 7‐ to 8‐year‐old children in Europe: northern European children (Norway) outperform southern European children (Greek and Italian) in fine and gross motor skills . It is speculated that cross‐cultural differences are due to differing enrollment rates in organized childcare and differences in policies governing physical education .…”

“…The second and third aims were to examine interactions between geographical region and children's age and sex. We hypothesized that there are differences in children's MC across cultures and that these differences accumulate with age, as MC is shown to develop in childhood . Additionally, cultural influences may affect differences in MC between sexes .…”

Environmental Correlates of Motor Competence in Children—The Skilled Kids Study

“…From a global perspective, countries have widely different living environments, which is likely to cause differences in MC via diversity in socio-cultural and geographical aspects [36]. While some cross-country comparisons of children’s MC are available [4,5,37,38], the effects of environmental differences within a single country are less studied. Therefore, information about how environmental factors within one country are associated with MC in children is scarce, particularly with regard to time spent outdoors and participation in organised sports.…”