Physical literacy
Cultural and social influences can reduce women and girls' opportunities to develop physical literacy.
Physical literacy is about building the skills, knowledge and behaviours that give individuals the confidence and motivation to lead active lives. 43, 47
A desire to improve their skill or ability in sport can be a key driver of sport participation for women and girls, while low levels of physical literacy or competence, and a fear of being judged can be barriers. 10, 13, 26, 30
Cultural and social influences can reduce access to the experiences and environments that can help women and girls to develop physical literacy and competence and guide them on the pathway to lifetime participation. 34, 43
Socially and culturally, boys have traditionally engaged in more physically active games and activities and have been more likely to be provided with toys or equipment that help to develop movement skills (e.g., bats, balls, running around). Girls have more traditionally been expected to be more sedentary and less encouraged to participate in physically demanding play. A 2019 analysis of United States High School Associations found that annually, boys got 1.13 million more sport opportunities than girls. 48
The 2019 Suncorp Australian Youth and Confidence research found that: 8
- 1 in 3 girls aged 11-17 stopped playing sport because they thought they weren’t good at it.
- 9 in 10 girls derive confidence through support from families and friends.
Parents, teachers, coaches, and other role models can play an important role in encouraging girls to develop skills and enjoyment in sport by modelling active lifestyles and active play. 7, 30, 34
Resources and reading
- Physically literate girls: the need for schools to develop girls who are physically literate, opens in a new tab, ACHPER Victoria, Victoria University and the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, (2020). According to recent research, Australia is ranked one of the worst performers for 11–17 year old girls globally. Over 90% of girls surveyed reported insufficient levels of physical activity, with a marked decrease in sport participation by girls during the 12–14 years of age and from 17+ years. As girls grow older, they report lower levels of enjoyment, confidence, competence and understanding, particularly during the teenage years. ACHPER Victoria has worked with Victoria University and partnered with the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (Change Our Game) to understand why this is, and how we can work together as communities to help change these statistics for the better. A new infographic designed to help communicate research findings and provide a clear pathway for schools and communities to create better opportunities for girls to become physically literate.
- Active Lives: Children and Young People Survey - Attitudes towards sport and physical activity, opens in a new tab, Sport England, (March 2019). Insights into the attitudes of children and young people towards sport and physical activity.
- Girls are less likely to say they enjoy or feel confident about doing sport and physical activity (58% of boys enjoy it, compared to 43% of girls, and 47% of boys feel confident, compared to 31% of girls). Among children aged 5-7, boys are more likely to love playing sport, while girls are more likely to love being active. Children from the least affluent families are less likely to enjoy activity than those from the most affluent families, and previous research shows they are also far less likely to be active. Black children are more physically literate than other ethnic groups—driven by boys, but they're less active than the population as a whole.
- Her Life Depends On It III: Sport, Physical Activity, and the Health and Well-Being of American Girls and Women, opens in a new tab, Staurowsky, E. J., DeSousa, M. J., Miller, K. E., et al., Women’s Sports Foundation, (May 2015). A comprehensive report that reviews existing and emerging research on the links between participation in sport and physical activity and the health and wellbeing of American girls and women. As with the previous editions in 2004 and 2009, this study also confirms that physical activity and sport provides the critical foundation, in no small part, that allows girls and women to lead healthy, strong, and fulfilled lives. The report’s contents reflect the review of 1,500 studies, nearly 400 covered since the previous edition. While the report’s focus continues to be on U.S. girls and women, selected research findings that offer perspective regarding girls and women worldwide is also referenced in order to provide some perspective and context. The research compiled in this updated report strongly suggests that sport and physical activity provide conditions that help to ensure girls’ health and wellbeing (physical, social, psychological, and academic). The full report offers expansive documentation on the impact sport and physical activity has in the lives of girls and women.
- As a general trend, females across the board, regardless of age, race, or social class, are shortchanged in realizing the benefits of participation in physically challenging activities. However, females from lower economic backgrounds, females of color and females with disabilities suffer even greater negative health consequences as a result of less engagement in physical activity and less access to sport and physical fitness programs.
- In general girls are still not afforded the degree of encouragement or opportunity extended to boys to participate in sports and fitness activities. Impediments to access remain an ongoing concern, complicated by recent trends that run counter to promoting physical activity, fitness, and sport programs in schools and communities. With schools cutting back on recess, a de-emphasis on physical education nationally, and persistent inequalities in school-sport programs and community-recreation programs, girls and women continue to encounter structural barriers to participation.
- What a girl wants: A mixed-methods study of gender differences in the barriers to and enablers of riding a bike in Australia, opens in a new tab, Lauren Pearson, Sandy Reeder, Belinda Gabbe, et al., Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Volume 94, pp.453-465, (April 2023). Women have specific concerns about riding on the road alongside motor vehicle traffic and the associated risks, and a lack of confidence in their ability and knowledge of bike riding and bikes themselves. It is imperative that women’s perspectives and needs are considered in the planning and promotion of bike riding globally to prevent and tackle gendered inequities.
- Are gender-stereotyped attitudes and beliefs in fathers and daughters associated with girls’ perceived motor competence?, opens in a new tab India Dechrai, Emiliano Mazzoli, Lisa Hanna, et al., Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, (6 June 2022). This study aimed to examine the association between father and daughter gender-stereotyped attitudes/beliefs and girls’ PMC. Girls with more gender-stereotyped attitudes have lower motor skill perceptions, which may impact negatively on physical activity and sport participation. Future interventions aimed at reducing sociocultural gender stereotypes in children may improve girls’ motor skill perception and positively impact physical activity.
- The effectiveness of a community-based fundamental motor skill intervention in children aged 3-8 years: Results of the “Multimove for Kids” project, opens in a new tab, Bardid F, Lenoir M, Huyben F, et al., Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport , Volume 20(2), pp.184-189, (2017). This study examined the effectiveness of a 30-week fundamental motor skill program in typically developing young children, and investigated possible gender differences. The intervention group (N=523) of 280 boys and 243 girls was compared to a control group (N=469) of 233 boys and 236 girls. The intervention group received 60 minutes of motor skill instruction weekly, delivered by trained instructors in a child care setting; the control group received no specific instruction. The intervention group demonstrated significantly better scores on object control tests, compared to the control group. The gains in object control were greater for boys than girls within the intervention group, but girls had greater gains in locomotor skills than boys. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of motor skill instruction in a community setting. The authors speculate that gender differences may be due to instructional strategies.
- Global self-esteem, perceived athletic competence, and physical activity in children: A longitudinal cohort study,, opens in a new tab Noordstar J, van der Net J, Kak S, et al., Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Volume 22, pp.83-90, (January 2016). Two groups of Dutch children were followed; one group from kindergarten to grade 2 and the other group from grades 2 to 4. This study found that an increase in global self-esteem was significantly associated with perceived athletic competence and the amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for girls, but not for boys. Perceived athletic competence declined slightly over time in boys, but remained stable in girls. The authors speculate that the decline in boys was due to their greater participation in vigorous activity. Because boys participated more in MVPA than girls, they were also more exposed to situations in which they could compare their athletic performance with their peers, resulting in a decline in perceived athletic competence. Other studies have shown similar responses among boys and girls and the authors offer no clear explanation for the results in this study.
- Associations between young children's perceived and actual ball skill competence and physical activity, opens in a new tab, Barnett L, Ridgers N, Salmon J, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Volume 18(2), pp.167-171, (March 2015). A total of 102 children (56% boys, 44% girls) aged 4 to 8 years completed assessments. The results showed that girls had lower perceived and actual object control competence and were less active than boys. Actual object control competence was positively associated with perceived object control competence and this relationship did not differ by sex. However, neither actual nor perceived object control competence was associated with moderate to vigorous physical activity. Young children's perceived ball skill abilities appear to relate to actual competence. In older children, object control skill is associated with physical activity, so targeting young children's object control skills may be an intervention priority.
- Skeletal maturation, fundamental motor skills and motor coordination in children 7–10 years, opens in a new tab, Freitas D, Lausen B, Maia J, et al., Journal of Sport Sciences, Volume 33(9), pp.924-934, (2015). This study looked at the relationship between skeletal age and fundamental motor skills (FMS) and gross motor coordination (GMC) in a large sample (N=429 children, 213 boys and 216 girls). Skeletal maturity is influenced by gender. However, this study found that skeletal age alone, or interacting with body size, had a negligible influence on FMS and GMC, accounting for only 9% of the variance.
- Contribution of organized and non-organized activity to children's motor skills and fitness, opens in a new tab, Hardy L, O’Hara B, Rogers K, et al., Journal of School Health, Volume 84(11), pp.690-696, (2014). This study examined the associations between children's organised physical activity (OPA), non-organised physical activity (NOPA) and two health-related outcomes—fundamental movement skill (FMS) and fitness in a sample of children aged 10 to 16 years. The authors concluded that both OPA and NOPA are important contributors to children's health-related outcomes. Among the girls, OPA was more strongly associated with both fitness and FMS competency. These findings support the importance of providing children with opportunities to engage in a range of daily physical activities, both organised (school physical education programs and school sport) and non-organised activities (active transport to school, play and social sport).
- Benefits of early development of eye-hand coordination: Evidence from the LOOK longitudinal study,, opens in a new tab Telford RD, Cunningham R, Telford RM, et al., Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, Volume 23(5), e263-269, (2013). Data from the LOOK Study was used to investigate the longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between eye-hand coordination (EHC) and cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, per cent body fat, body image, and organised sport participation in 406 boys and 384 girls at both 8 and 10 years of age. Cross-sectional analyses showed that boys and girls with better EHC were significantly fitter. A longitudinal relationship showed that girls who improved their EHC over the two years became fitter. There was also evidence that children with better EHC possessed a more positive body image. At 8 years of age, boys and girls participating in organised sport possessed better EHC than non-participants. These data provide evidence for the premise that early acquisition of this single motor skill promotes the development of a child's fitness, body image and participation in sport.
- Child, family and environmental correlates of children's motor skill proficiency, opens in a new tab, Barnett L, Hinkley T, Okely A, et al., Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Volume 16(4), pp.332-336, (2013). This study looked at what factors were correlated with motor skill proficiency among 76 Australian preschool children, 34 boys and 42 girls (mean age 4.1 years). The researchers found that age, prior swimming lessons, and access to home exercise/sports equipment were positively associated with motor skill proficiency. These factors explained 20% of the variance in motor skill. In addition, gender, parental involvement in play activity, and the amount of unstructured physical activity that was classified as moderate-to-vigorous in intensity, accounted for 32% of the variance in object control skill.
- Sport motor competencies and the experience of social recognition among peers in physical education – a video-based study, opens in a new tab, Grimminger E, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Volume 18(5), pp.506-519, (2013). Being recognised as a competent and accepted member in the peer group is one of the most important basic human needs for children and adolescents. However, it is the peer group itself that decides which competencies are valued and which are not. Through this process a social order, as well as peer power constellations, is created. This study aimed to determine if, and how, sport motor competencies are used as a criterion for recognition or non-recognition among peers. The results of this study show that sport motor competencies and the social position in a peer group are significantly related. However, the findings were only significant for boys’ peer group and not for girls. The authors concluded that sport motor competencies play an important role in the everyday struggles of children for recognition within their peer group.
Access to resources Where possible, direct links to full-text and online resources are provided. However, where links are not available, you may be able to access documents directly by searching our licenced full-text databases (note: user access restrictions apply). Alternatively, you can ask your institutional, university, or local library for assistance—or purchase documents directly from the publisher. You may also find the information you’re seeking by searching Google Scholar, opens in a new tab.
