Gender, BMI, values, and learning in physical education: A study on Chinese middle schoolers

►Boys and girls did differ in valuing physical education and performances. ►Boys perceived high utility and intrinsic values in physical education. ►Boys outperformed the girls in psychomotor skill tests with moderate effect size. ►Girls outperformed the boys in the cognitive knowledge test with small effect size. ►Gender is the only predictor for performance on both knowledge and skill tests.