Relationship Between Fundamental Movement Skills Proficiency and Physical Fitness Among Fourth-Grade Elementary School Students

Syed Kamaruzaman bin Syed Ali (Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Suthana Tingsabhat (Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand)
Naufal Krisna Akbar Ananta (Faculty of Sport Science and Health, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia)

Journal of Fundamental Movement Skills
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2026): JFMS

Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) are an important part of children’s gross motor development. Their association with physical fitness has been reported in previous studies, but evidence among elementary school students in Indonesia is still limited. This study examined FMS proficiency and physical fitness among fourth-grade students at SDN 03 Kanigoro, Madiun City. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted using an analytic observational approach. The population consisted of 28 students, and 27 students were included in the analysis through purposive sampling because one student was absent due to illness. FMS was measured with the Test of Gross Motor Development–Third Edition (TGMD-3), and physical fitness was assessed using the Tes Kebugaran Pelajar Nusantara (TKPN). Category distributions were described using descriptive statistics. The association between FMS proficiency and physical fitness was examined with the Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test because the requirements for Pearson’s chi-square test were not met. Among the 27 students, 37.0% were classified as Impaired or delayed. For physical fitness, 51.9% were classified as Fair and 48.1% as Good. The Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test gave an Exact Sig. (2-sided) value of 0.514, showing no statistically significant association between FMS proficiency and physical fitness. The findings suggest that FMS and physical fitness should both be considered in elementary school physical education.