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Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are considered to be the building blocks that lead to specialized movement sequences required for adequate participation in many organized and non-organized physical activities for children, adolescents and adults.[1,2] Commonly developed in childhood and subsequently refined into context- and sport-specific skills,[2-4] they include locomotor (e.g. running and hopping), manipulative or object control (e.g. catching and throwing) and stability (e.g. balancing and twisting) skills.[1] The mastery of FMS has been purported as contributing to children's physical, cognitive and social development[5] and is thought to provide the foundation for an active lifestyle.[1,3] Recently, FMS competency has been proposed to interact with perceptions of motor competence and health-related fitness to predict physical activity and subsequent obesity from childhood to adulthood.[3]
While children may naturally develop a rudimentary form of fundamental movement pattern, a mature form of FMS proficiency is more likely to be achieved with appropriate practice, encouragement, feedback and instruction.[1,2] Children who do not receive adequate motor skill instructions and practice may demonstrate developmental delays in their gross motor ability.[6] As such, early childhood physical activity guidelines, such as the National Association for Sport and Physical Education's (NASPE) Active Start, indicate that the development of movement skills should be a key component of early childhood education programmes.[7] Likewise, FMS competency is identified in National Standards as a primary goal of quality elementary school physical education in the US[8] and represents an indicator of achievement for elementary school children in England's national physical education curriculum.[9] Despite this focus, the prevalence of FMS mastery among children in some countries appears inadequately low.[10,11] For example, in a recent US study of 9- to 12-year-old children, only half of the students assessed demonstrated proficiency in basketball throwing and dribbling motor tasks.[11] Similarly, an Australian study[12] involving students from years 4, 6, 8 and 10 (aged 9-15 years) found that the prevalence of mastery only exceeded 40% for one skill in one group (i.e. overarm throw, year 10 boys).
The rationale for promoting the development of FMS in childhood relies on the existence of evidence on the current or future benefits associated with the acquisition of FMS proficiency. Despite support for FMS promotion among motor behaviourists[3] and physical educators,[13] the potential benefits of FMS competency have not yet...