Consensus on the effects of exergames on fundamental movement skills in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Consensus on the effects of exergames on fundamental movement skills in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Consensus on the effects of exergames on fundamental movement skills in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis Oscar O'Brien, Connah Kendrick, Ben Ives, Moi Hoon Yap, John Henry This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6837861/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Physical inactivity is a public health crisis that is influenced by practical barriers in childhood. We define a category of interventions that can reduce barriers, with exergames being one example. There is mixed evidence on fundamental movement skills effects, due to variability in experimental outcomes, that may be limiting usage. This meta-analysis of the source of variability determines the effect of exergames upon fundamental movement skills. Methods We surveyed 9 research databases (PubMed, APA PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Scopus, Proquest, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) to identify studies of the postintervention effects of exergames upon children’s fundamental movement skills, published between Jan 2010 and May 2024. Records were identified through boolean search terms and then manual reviews of abstracts and full text. Results In total, 17 statistically significant comparisons from 12 studies were identified. Comparisons between groups involved variance in coaching levels, activity structure levels, and whether the activity was an exergame or not. We used systematic hypothesis testing to explore all explanations for fundamental movement skills variability. All reported results were consistent with the hypothesis that variance in fundamental movement skills effects were due to variance in coaching or activity structure levels, rather than exergame status. There was no evidence of a differential effect for skill components. Conclusions Low-barrier exergames, as defined in our taxonomy of exergame types, are just as effective as traditional activity for fundamental movement skills adaptation. They should be freely chosen by teachers and parents, to overcome the practical challenges that are spiralling into physically inactive lifestyles. Future research should utilise our taxonomy and model of statistically significant effects to manage the methodological variability that makes building upon previous findings challenging. Exergames Exergamoids Fundamental movement skills Physical literacy Paediatric inactivity triad Physical activity Childhood Full Text Supplementary Files CategoryQuantisations.csv Comparisons.csv DefinitionsUsedForCategorisation.csv ExperimentalGroups.csv HypothesisATestTable.csv HypothesisBTestTable.csv HypothesisCTestTable.csv HypothesisDTestTable.csv HypothesisETestTable.csv HypothesisFTestTable.csv HypothesisGTestTable.csv HypothesisHTestTable.csv HypothesisITestTable.csv HypothesisJTestTable.csv HypothesisKTestTable.csv SearchModifications.xlsx StudyIndentificationDetail.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major Revision 15 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Nov, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 17 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 10 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 09 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6837861","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":487154971,"identity":"86d9dd99-0462-4092-801d-bb844091ca2d","order_by":0,"name":"Oscar 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AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Exergames, Exergamoids, Fundamental movement skills, Physical literacy, Paediatric inactivity triad, Physical activity, Childhood","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6837861/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6837861/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003ePhysical inactivity is a public health crisis that is influenced by practical barriers in childhood. We define a category of interventions that can reduce barriers, with exergames being one example. There is mixed evidence on fundamental movement skills effects, due to variability in experimental outcomes, that may be limiting usage. This meta-analysis of the source of variability determines the effect of exergames upon fundamental movement skills.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe surveyed 9 research databases (PubMed, APA PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Scopus, Proquest, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) to identify studies of the postintervention effects of exergames upon children\u0026rsquo;s fundamental movement skills, published between Jan 2010 and May 2024. Records were identified through boolean search terms and then manual reviews of abstracts and full text.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn total, 17 statistically significant comparisons from 12 studies were identified. Comparisons between groups involved variance in coaching levels, activity structure levels, and whether the activity was an exergame or not. We used systematic hypothesis testing to explore all explanations for fundamental movement skills variability. All reported results were consistent with the hypothesis that variance in fundamental movement skills effects were due to variance in coaching or activity structure levels, rather than exergame status. There was no evidence of a differential effect for skill components.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eLow-barrier exergames, as defined in our taxonomy of exergame types, are just as effective as traditional activity for fundamental movement skills adaptation. They should be freely chosen by teachers and parents, to overcome the practical challenges that are spiralling into physically inactive lifestyles. Future research should utilise our taxonomy and model of statistically significant effects to manage the methodological variability that makes building upon previous findings challenging.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Consensus on the effects of exergames on fundamental movement skills in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-22 10:22:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6837861/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major Revision","date":"2026-02-16T00:19:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-11-20T15:04:08+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-07-18T02:11:53+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-06-10T08:49:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Sports Medicine-Open","date":"2025-06-09T17:11:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"sports-medicine-open","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"smoa","sideBox":"Learn more about [Sports Medicine-Open](http://sportsmedicine-open.springeropen.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/smoa/default.aspx","title":"Sports Medicine-Open","twitterHandle":"@SpringerOpen","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"674d36b9-e0f9-4bf1-be12-73ae21a6813a","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 22nd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-20T16:05:58+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-07-22 10:22:49","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6837861","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6837861","identity":"rs-6837861","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}