Body Weight and Motor Competence in 6- To 8-Year-Old Childre - Abstract
Objective: The development of motor competence during childhood has important implications for future health and well-being. The present study examined the association of overweight and obesity with motor competence in 6- to 8-year-old school children.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study 18 elementary schools in the federal state of Tyrol, Austria were randomly selected for participation. Motor competence
was assessed in 857 (422 boys; 435 girls), children between March and December 2017 using the German Motor Test. Body weight and height were measured following standard procedures with children in sports clothes and being barefoot. Participants were categorized into four weight groups based on the German BMI reference system: group I (anorexic/underweight), group II (normal weight), group III (overweight) and group IV (obese). Differences across weight categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) were determined via ANOVA, using Bonferroni adjustment for post-hoc analyses.
Results: Out of the 857 school children 9.0% were overweight and 6.1% were obese. The prevalence of overweight and obesity increased from 5.7% in the 6-year old participants to 10.6% in the 8-year-old participants (p= 0.004). Motor competence of children with normal body weight or underweight was
significantly higher than that of their peers with overweight or obesity (p< 0.001). Further, children with obesity displayed significantly lower motor competence scores than children with overweight (p< 0.001).
Conclusion: Motor competence is an important contributor to a healthy development in children. Comprehensive, preventive efforts, therefore, should emphasize motor development, particularly in elementary school, when targeting an active lifestyle and healthy body weight.