Birth weight impacts physical and motor performance of school-aged children in Matola, Mozambique.

Abstract

Low birth weight (LBW) affects, specially, low-and middle-income countries and is associated with impairments in growth and the development of neuromotor skills. This study evaluated the influence of birth weight on body composition, cardiometabolic and physical fitness and motor coordination in school-age children in Matola, province of Maputo – Mozambique. Quantitative cross-sectional study carried out with school-age children of both genders. Children were divided into three groups: low birth weight (LBW: n=15); insufficient birth weight (IBW: n=43) and normal birth weight (NBW: n=87). Anthropometric parameters, physical fitness and neuromotor performance were evaluated. The groups were compared by one-way Anova or Kruskal-Wallis test and correlations between the studied variables were investigated using Spearman's test and partial correlation. LBW does not seem to affect anthropometric parameters in this age group. On the other hand, it seems to compromise performance during sprint running and VO2 maximum. Furthermore, a negative correlation was found between birth weight and body fat, sprint running and monopedal jumping. Birth weight also showed a positive correlation with VO2 maximum. Thus, our data suggest that LBW is related to lower performance in the speed and VO2 maximum tests, even after adjustments for age, gender and actual BMI.