This study aimed to determine the difference between today's young children (2013) and those of 1985 in terms of physique and fundamental motor abilities (running, jumping, and throwing). The participants included 2,329 healthy children aged 3 to 6 years in Ishikawa Prefecture. They performed three motor ability tests (20 m sprint, standing broad jump, and tennis ball throw). The representative values (mean and standard deviation) of data on 32,538 children studied in the same manner in 1985 were utilized for comparison. A two-way analysis of variance was performed to reveal the mean differences between children from both periods (1985 and 2013) and genders (boys and girls) on physique and fundamental motor abilities. In addition, the data of 2013 was judged by five-grade evaluation based on data of 1985. The results revealed that today's children had a slightly smaller physique (height：0.5%, weight：2.2-4.3%) than those of 1985. The average 20 m sprint time was unchanged at age 3；however, a decline of more than 5% was found for ages 4, 5, and 6. In the standing broad jump, a decline of 5-6% was found in both sexes； however, there were no age differences regarding the extent of the decline. An age-related decline in the tennis ball throw was considerable in both sexes and was even greater in boys than in girls. The data suggest that children's fundamental motor abilities have decreased when compared with children of 30 years ago. Parents and caregivers should be aware of this situation and should positively introduce various forms of active play to encourage motor ability development.
