On the Problem of Motor Skill Development

JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 5 • May/June 2007 A s we begin the 21st century, the United States is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2004 that almost 18.8 percent of all children ages six to 11 and 17.4 percent of youths 12 to 19 are overweight (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). As a way to address this serious issue, countless physical education classes have become fi tness centers designed to raise heart rates and burn calories. No one takes issue with providing children more physical activity time, but an unintended consequence of this renewed fi tness emphasis is the lack of attention to motor skill development. What are the implications of de-emphasizing the acquisition of motor skills in our physical education programs? This is not a new problem. Motor skill development, as a curricular focus, has long been marginalized in physical education. In this article, based on my Alliance Scholar lecture given at the 2007 AAHPERD convention in Baltimore, I discuss the problem of motor skill development with an eye to understanding why it has languished as a critical curricular focus in physical education and why it is important to keep it in our physical education programs. In addition, I include fi ndings from the research I have done over the last four decades on the development of motor skills.