Abstract
We compared the motor competence between overweight/obese and eutrophic preschoolers with similar physical activity levels, age, socioeconomic status, maternal education, quality of the home environment and quality of the school environment. We also investigated to what extent excess body fat mass explains gross motor skills in preschoolers. A cross-sectional quantitative and exploratory study was conducted with 48 preschoolers assigned into eutrophic and overweight/obese groups. Overweight/obese preschoolers had worse Locomotor subtest standard scores than the eutrophic ones (p = 0.01), but similar Object Control subtest and Gross Motor Quotient scores (p > 0.05). Excess body fat mass explained 12% of the low Locomotor subtest standard scores in preschoolers (R2 = 0.12; p = 0.007). Excess body fat mass was associated with worse locomotor skills when the model was adjusted for physical activity levels, age, socioeconomic status, maternal education, quality of the home environment and quality of the school environment. Thus, excess body fat mass partly explains lower locomotor skills in preschoolers.
Highlights
Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern worldwide [1]
The aim of this study was: 1) To compare the gross motor competence (MC) between overweight/obese and eutrophic preschoolers according to physical activity (PA) levels, sex, age, socioeconomic status, maternal education, quality of the home environment and quality of the school environment
Exclusion criteria were children who had incomplete data in the database; preterm and low birth weight infants and infants with pregnancy or parturition complications; children with signs of malnutrition or illness that interfere with growth and development or any disability; children who were at risk of being overweight or underweight and children affected with any infection during the study period
Summary
Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern worldwide [1]. In the past decades, childhood obesity was considered a problem, especially in developed countries, but recent evidence indicates the rapid growth of obesity in children from developing countries. [2, 3]. In Brazil, among children under 5 years of age, 14.8% are overweight and 7% are obese [6].
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