Comparative Study of Motor Performances of the Boys with Different Body Mass Indices/Komparativna studija motoričke izvedbe dječaka s različitim indeksima tjelesne mase

Abstract

The goal of this study is to compare motor abilities of the boys with different body mass indices and determine whether the children are obese or overweight, and to what extent their motor skills are inadequate in comparison to normally nourished children. The sample consisted of 180 grade four students, aged 10 (±6 months), from five primary schools in Užice (The Republic of Serbia). On the basis of the BMI results, the sample was divided into four subsamples: malnourished (N=30), normally nourished (N=90), pre-obese (N=30) and obese (N=30). The evaluation of nine motor abilities was conducted by the battery of eighteen tests. The examinees from the group of the malnourished children (AW) achieved the lowest score in 7 out of 18 tests. The group of normally nourished children (NW) did not achieve the worst average score in any of the tests, and in 10 out of 18 tests they achieved the best average score. The group of pre-obese ones (OW) achieved the best average score in 8 out of 18 tests, and the group of obese participants (OB) achieved the lowest average scores on 11 out of 18 tests, and they did not achieve the best average scores in any of the tests. The research results indicate that the groups of pre-obese and obese persons have certain problems in motor dimension in the segment which is related to the showing of muscle strength and power, in the segment of showing speed and in the segment of balance.