This review paper summarized the cohort studies from birth and childhood through adolescence to reveal the contribution of birth weight, motor development and physical fitness in early life stages to lifestyle and health benefit in adulthood. As a result, several researches reported that fundamental motor skills in young age might contribute to exercise habits and leisure time physical activities mediating perceived sports competence in adolescence. Moreover, several studies supported that birth weight may be one of the determinants of physical fitness (e.g. cardiorespiratory capacity, muscle strength) in later life stages such as in childhood and adolescence. However, these findings remain incomplete as the number of researches using longitudinal study design is very small. In addition, previous studies have not reached agreement due to the incorrect measurement accuracy of physical activity questionnaires or fitness tests. In future, longitudinal cohort study from birth, infant and children to adolescence would be needed using accurate assessment methods (e.g. accelerometer, V^^.O_2max) to establish a causal association among birth weight, motor skills, physical fitness and physical activity.
