Fundamental Motor Skill Proficiency of Hong Kong Children Aged 6–9 Years

Children AGNES WAI-YIN PANG
Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, Faculty of Education,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
St. Stephen’s College Preparatory School, Stanley, Hong Kong, China

DANIEL TIK-PUI FONG
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Prince of Wales Hospital,
Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Research in Sports Medicine, 17:125–144, 2009
DOI: 10.1080/15438620902897516

This study investigated the fundamental motor skill proficiency of
Hong Kong children ages 6–9. Ninety-one male and 76 female
Chinese students (mean age = 7.6 years) from six local primary
schools in Hong Kong participated in this study. The Test of Gross
Motor Development—Second Edition (TGMD-2) was administrated
to assess the mastery of gross motor skills by an experienced
physical education instructor. The performance was videotaped,
and it was rated by the same physical education instructor again
(1 week apart) to show the reliability (0.88–0.97). Results showed
that the participants were in general superior to the normative
samples from the TGMD-2 manual, scoring a gross motor quotient
(GMQ) of 56.8–80.9.

Overall, 24% of the participants were rated as
superior, 36% as above average, 47% as average, and 2% as below
average. Excellent proficiency (>80% in every subitem) was observed
in running, galloping, leaping, sliding, catching, and throwing
skills. In comparing the results with other studies, we found that the
participants were superior to the data reported in previous studies in
United States, Brazil, and Australia. This study added valuable information to the establishment of a worldwide normative reference
for the comparison of future studies in other countries.