**1. Introduction**

The development of fundamental motor skills is an essential prerequisite for the competent performance of several types of physical activities [1]. Evidence shows

that the triggering of this process in a systematic way since childhood affects both the practice of efficient sports performances in youth and the adoption of active lifestyles in adulthood [2–4].

In theoretical terms, fundamental motor skills can be subdivided into two broad classifying categories: locomotion skills and object control skills [5]. Locomotion skills include running, jumping, marching, climbing, riding, swimming, skating, among others, while object control skills refer to transporting, intercepting, wielding, designing, and controlling implements in actions related to receptions, throws, bouncing, conduction with feet and hitting [6]. The development of physical fitness regarding balance, coordination, agility, speed, and reaction time contributes positively to the increase of these two types of skills, as they enable the body to perform them properly [7, 8].

Overall, the first manifestations of fundamental motor skills occur after the child stabilizes the bipedal posture and starts to walk alone. Participation in games is relevant to, even at random, have the opportunity to perform body skills in the challenges inherent to these activities. The continued exposure to such stimuli contributes, over time, to acquire increasing levels of motor proficiency [9, 10].

On the other hand, any obstructions in the course of motor evolution even in the first years of life can cause delays with an extension until puberty if they are not properly reversed in a timely manner. If they remain unchanged for long periods, deficits in locomotion and object control skills affect the behavioral and psychic domains. This can decrease the interest in the practice of physical activities, perturb self-esteem, and cause distortions in body image [11].

School Physical Education programs represent a strategic possibility of facing this scenario if they are given diligently with regard to content planning and execution. Likewise, the provision of public leisure policies focused on combating sedentary lifestyles among young people should be seen as measures of equal significance [12, 13]. Although such actions are essential, public health indicators attest that, by themselves, they are limited to promote the increase of basic motor skills of infants and adolescents related to the actions of running, jumping, swimming, throwing, launching, among others, according to minimally reasonable standards of technical effectiveness [14, 15]. In a 13-year longitudinal study, Hardy et al. [16] investigated the development levels of fundamental motor skills in children and adolescents. In the end, they observed that less than 50% exhibited basic motor skills at satisfactory levels. Similarly, Brian et al. [17] found in a recent study carried out in the United States of America (USA) that approximately 77% of the analyzed sample of infants and pubescents were in a situation of delayed motor development [17].

The cogency of this context and the urgency to face it has led academics and professionals in the area of human motricity to research and propose original solutions during the last two decades. One of them refers to the use of active video games (exergames) in children's motor education processes [18–20]. Supporters of this idea state that exergames can be helpful tools for teaching, acquiring, and improving the motor skills of children and adolescents of different ages, sex, biological maturity, and clinical conditions. The undeniable popularity of these types of games among young people, mainly as a residential entertainment option, is the main justification to support such a suggestion. Conceptually, exergames are digital games that require movement of the body as a whole, through devices that convert the individual's real movements to the virtual environment. This allows them to practice simulated sports, fitness exercises, and/or other playful and interactive physical activities. Unlike conventional video games, exergames require physical effort [18–20].

The innovative character of this approach not only ratifies the creativity of its proponents but also demonstrates the commitment to try to equate and solve the

*The Use of Exergames in Motor Education Processes for School-Aged Children: A Systematic… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96074*

problem at hand. However, as it is a recent issue, it is legitimate to raise the hypothesis that studies related to the theme are still in an early stage. Thus, identifying the characteristics of the exergames as to the criteria for demarcating objects, data treatment techniques, sample compositions, and the applicability of the results is a necessary task both to have a broader view of their theoretical-methodological profiles and for the emission of epistemic diagnoses/prognoses. Therefore, the objective of this study was twofold: 1) to identify, through a systematic review, the ways of using exergames in the processes of motor education of school-age children; 2) to diagnose the epistemic state of this use in the context of Sport Sciences.
