Body Mass Index and Motor Coordination of Boys and Girls Aged 7 to 9

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the differences in the overall level of motor coordination between groups of children with different nutritional status. In total, 418 participants of both sexes, aged 7-9, took part in the study. The participants were classified based on their nutritional status into one of four groups: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese, according to the International Obesity Task Force. The motor coordination of the participants was assessed using the KTK (Körpercoordination test für Kinder) battery of tests and total point scores were calculated for each age category. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine the differences in the overall motor coordination between groups of participants. Statistical significance was set at the p≤.05 level. The results revealed statistically significant differences in the overall level of motor coordination between all the examined groups of boys with different nutritional status aged 7, 8 and 9. The results of the Mann-Whitney test showed statistically significant differences between all three age groups of boys (7-, 8- and 9-year-olds) in favor of the normal weight groups. The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed no statistically significant differences in the case of the girls. The results of the Mann-Whitney test revealed statistically significant differences between all three age groups of girls (7-, 8- and 9-year-olds) in favor of the normal weight groups. The obtained results showed statistically significantly poorer motor coordination in boys and girls with higher values of body mass index compared to boys and girls with normal body weight across all age groups.

Razlike U Motoričkim Kompetencijama Dece Mlađeg Školskog Uzrasta

“…The instrument that has been used in the data collection is the KTK battery of tests and it has high reliability (r=0.90-0.97) (Batez et al, 2019) as well as intra reliability (r=0.80-0.96) (Bardid et al, 2015). The test is internationally standardised and if has subtests from which the variables that have been used later in the data analysis were derived:…”

“…Previous research shows the decay of the motor competence of younger school age children (Vandrope et al, 2011;Hardi, Barnett, Espinel, & Okely, 2013;Tester, Ackland, & Houghton, 2014). These findings can potentially create a problem in the further development of motor skills since motor competence is related to health and obesity (Logan, Robinson, Rudisill, Wadsworth, & Morera, 2014;Cvejić, & Ostojić, 2017;Batez, Milošević, Simić, & Obradović, 2019) and can negatively affect success in school, participating in physical activity and social interactions (Piek & Skinner, 2001). On the other hand, high motor competence can be a positive predictor of physical activity and a good Body Mass Index (Boreham, & Riddoch, 2001;Lubans et al, 2010;Batez et al, 2019) as well as adopting good lifestyle habits in further development.…”

“…These findings can potentially create a problem in the further development of motor skills since motor competence is related to health and obesity (Logan, Robinson, Rudisill, Wadsworth, & Morera, 2014;Cvejić, & Ostojić, 2017;Batez, Milošević, Simić, & Obradović, 2019) and can negatively affect success in school, participating in physical activity and social interactions (Piek & Skinner, 2001). On the other hand, high motor competence can be a positive predictor of physical activity and a good Body Mass Index (Boreham, & Riddoch, 2001;Lubans et al, 2010;Batez et al, 2019) as well as adopting good lifestyle habits in further development. Motor competence can be estimated by many tests (Cools, Martelaer, Samaey, & Andries, 2009;Klingberg, Schranz, Barnett, Booth, & Ferrar, 2018), while some authors state that the two most common tests are (Logan et al, 2017): the Körperkoordinations test (KTK) and The Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2).…”

“…The KTK test estimates the ability to control the whole body and coordination, it is a simple test and it is easy to conduct it (Cools et al, 2009). Data collection takes approximately 20 minutes and the reliability of the test is high (Valaey, & Vandroemme, 1999;Bardid, Rudd, Lenoir, Polman, & Barnett, 2015;Batez et al, 2019). The aim of this study was to examine the differences in motor competence among children of different school ages, as well as whether there is a negative trend in the decline of these values with increasing age among children from Serbia.…”