Author Identifier
Anthony J. Blazevich: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1664-1614
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Children
Volume
12
Issue
5
Publisher
MDPI
School
Centre for Human Performance / School of Medical and Health Sciences
Funders
Chinese Scholarship Council
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of relative age on gross motor coordination (GMC) development, taking into account biological maturity and sex. Methods: 729 participants aged 10 to 16 years completed three GMC tests newly designed to minimize the potentially confounding effects of physical fitness. The tests included a Hand-Foot coordination test, Dribbling-Targeting test (DT test), and a T balance and agility test (T test). Relative age was determined using birth quartiles: BQ1 (January–March); BQ2 (April–June); BQ3 (July–September); and BQ4 (October–December). Regarding biological maturity, the participants were categorized according to their estimated peak height velocity (pre- and post-PHV). Results: Relative age did not significantly impact the overall GMC score. In contrast, biological maturity emerged as a significant determinant of GMC, with post-PHV participants outperforming their pre-PHV counterparts in the three tests (p < 0.001). The results also showed a significant main effect of sex in the DT and T tests, i.e., in tasks involving dynamic coordination and agility, with boys consistently outperforming girls (p < 0.001). Significant biological maturity × sex interactions in the DT and T tests also indicated an advantage of boys over girls with advancing biological maturity (p < 0.05). Conclusions: these findings highlight the importance of considering biological maturity and sex rather than relative age in GMC development from childhood through adolescence.
DOI
10.3390/children12050619
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Zhang, X., Ennequin, G., Blazevich, A. J., & Ratel, S. (2025). Effect of relative age on gross motor coordination development, considering biological maturity and sex. Children, 12(5), 619. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12050619