Differences in Motor Competence Between Children Performing Rhythmic Gymnastics or Exclusively Physical Education Classes: a Pilot Investigation

Background: Well-structured environments with different opportunities, such as sports spaces, seem to enable children's development of motor skills, and rhythmic gymnastics (RG) can be an important setting to this matter. Objectives: Verify the Motor Competence (MC) of school-aged children practicing RG, and associate with the mesosystem opportunities. Methods: Forty-four children (7.90 ± 1.04 years) were divided into two groups (RG and Physical Education (PE)), and their MC were evaluated using the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA) battery. Results: Children involved in RG had higher scores for the locomotor component of MCA, as well as for the total MC, compared to children attending PE (p=0.018). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that practicing RG may lead to better MC development in children when compared to the exclusive attendance of PE classes. Thus, children need to be encouraged to perform other physical activities outside the school, such as RG, to improve their MC.