Relationship between age, sex and body mass index with fundamental motor skills among 3 to 6 years-old children

Abstract

The prevalence of childhood obesity is a serious public health problem. This problem is a multi-component disease and several factors are involved in its development. The childhood obesity led to poor mastery of fundamental motor skills (FMS) and failure to develop in specialized skills that required in organized sports and activities. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between age, sex and body mass index (BMI) with FMS in 3 to 6 years-old children. A total of 600 preschool children (300 boys and 300 girls) between the ages of 3 to 6 years old participated in this research. Subjects were selected through multi-stage cluster random sampling in five regions in Tehran. Using the Ohio State University Scale of Intra Gross Motor Assessment (OSU-SIGMA) FMS were assess. Body mass index (BMI) was directly measured from height (m²)/weight (kg) for each child. The results showed that the negative correlations between jumping, skipping, hopping and throwing skills and BMI in any 3 groups children were significant (P<0.05), but correlations between other FMS and BMI were not significant (P>0.05). The boys were performed better than girls in all FMS except hopping and skipping skills. In these skills the girls were better performed in all ages. These results highlight the need to provide organized opportunities which facilitate FMS and decreased high BMI levels in preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]