Development of Gender Differences in Physical Activity

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Abstract
The development of gender differences in physical activity was reviewed using the categories of motor performance, motor activity, physical activity, and health related physical fitness. Gender differences in motor performance were related to age in 12 of 20 tasks, resulting in three types of developmental curves. Most differences are suggested as being environmentally induced prior to puberty but influenced by a biology–environment interaction after puberty. The level of motor activity is higher in boys even in infancy, and gender differences increase across childhood and adolescence. This suggests that heredity influences initial differences but interacts with environmental circumstances as children grow and develop. Boys from several countries are observed to be more physically active than girls, probably accounting in part for their better performance on physical fitness tests. Boys perform better than girls on three of the four measures of health related physical fitness: mile run, chin-ups, and sit-ups, but not the sit-and-reach. However, these differences are small prior to puberty and are adjusted to zero by degree of fatness and intensity of exercise. After puberty, hormonal differences in combination with environmental opportunities produce better performance by males.