Analysis of anthropometric indicators of visually impaired children in relation to their healthy peers and according to subgroups of a special medical group

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of physical development indicators as one of the criteria for the health status of children with visual deprivation, based on the special medical subgroup, in comparison with their relatively healthy peers. Material & Methods. Guided by ethical principles and based on informed consent, a study was conducted involving 27 children aged 10. Among them, 13 children had visual deprivation, specifically 8 children were assigned to subgroup A, and 5 to subgroup B. Additionally, 14 relatively healthy children participated in the study. The assessment of physical development was carried out through anthropometric measurements, including body weight, body length, chest circumference, and chest excursion, following standard methodology. Results. The corresponding statistical analysis revealed that the difference between the groups is statistically significant at the level of p<0.01 only for the indicators of chest circumference on inhalation and exhalation in centimeters, as well as for the chest circumference based on the sigma coefficient. For the rest of the indicators, the differences do not reach a sufficient level of statistical significance. These data indicate that 10-year-old children with visual deprivation significantly differed from their peers without visual deprivation in having a significantly larger chest circumference. Children from subgroup B are slightly taller, have a greater body mass, and exceed the chest circumference on inhalation and exhalation of children who, based on medical criteria, fall into subgroup A. However, all these differences, according to statistical criteria, are not pronounced enough to be considered significant for making decisions regarding the specific design of a program for correcting motor disorders during physical education sessions. Conclusions. The study confirmed data showing that children with visual deprivation exhibit higher body weight indicators compared to their peers without visual deprivation. This is attributed to a sedentary lifestyle resulting from visual analyzer dysfunction. Comparing the anthropometric indices of children with visual deprivation of subgroup A and subgroup B, insignificant differences were found. The only indicator that significantly distinguishes these groups of children is chest excursion, where most children in subgroup A have a difference of 4 cm between the circumference of the chest during inhalation and exhalation, and children in subgroup B have a difference of only 3 cm. The statistical significance of such differences was confirmed by the Mann-Whitney test at the level of p≤0.05.