Radmila Kostić, Ratomir Đurasković, Pantelić Saša, Slavoljub Uzunović, Nataša Veselinović, and Ivana Mladenović-Cirić
University of Nish
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences in the explosive strength, coordination and speed among the groups formed in 7-year old children according to their body mass index (BMI). A total of 91 children took part in the study and were divided into the following groups, according to their BMI: participants with normal body mass (n=55, height 127.40±5.13, weight 25.71±2.70, BMI ≤17.91), participants with increased body mass (n=17, height 131.88±5.17, weight 33.81±4.44, BMI ranging from 17.93 to 20.62) and obese participants (n=19, height 131.19±4.44, weight 40.25±8.30, BMI ≥20.63). Excessive weight or obesity was defined according to the recommendations of Cole et al. (2000). All of the participants were aged 7.1±4 months and attended elementary schools in the city of Nish in Serbia. In order to evaluate explosive strength, coordination and speed, three tests were utilized for each of the aforesaid abilities. The obtained data were processed using a one-way ANOVA. In the case of significant between-group differences, the Bonferroni post hoc test was utilized. The results revealed statistically significant differences among the scores of the three BMI groups in explosive strength, coordination and speed tests. The greatest one was between the group of children with normal body mass and that of obese children, a finding that was expected. .
Keywords:
motor skills, obesity, seven-year-old children
Download (pdf, 173kb)
