The Influence of BMI Levels on the Values of Static and Dynamic Balance for Students (Men) of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports

Abstract

Background: Postural stability is a factor that conditions the motor performance of athletes and of different categories of the population involved in activities that require physical effort. The aim of the study is to highlight the differences that appear in terms of balance performance for students, depending on their classification on BMI levels. Methods: A group of 109 students from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports (1st year undergraduate) participated in this study at the end of the academic year (May, 2019), being divided following the anthropometric assessment into 3 groups related to BMI levels (7 cases of underweight, BMI = 17.21 ± 1.11; 83 cases of normal weight, BMI = 22.29 ± 1.56; 19 cases of overweight, BMI = 27.97 ±2.89). The research is cross-sectional, using the MANOVA statistical calculation procedure (multivariate and univariate test—with Bonferroni Post Hoc Test and comparison of significance between the mean values of the 3 defined groups, for the 7 applied balance tests). Results: Univariate test results indicate values of F associated with statistically insignificant thresholds (p > 0.05) for most of the tests used, with weak and very weak values of size effect (Ƞ2p). This aspect is also reinforced by the differences between the averages of the analyzed pairs, where only the statistically significant superiority (p < 0.05) of the underweight over the overweight for the Stork test is noticed. The underweight group achieves slightly superior performance in the assessments for Standing balance test, Stork test, Flamingo test, Walk and turn field sobriety test, and that of the normal weight for Functional reach test and Bass test, the overweight having the poorest results in most tests; the differences between the 3 BMI levels analyzed are insignificant (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Even if underweight and normal weight have better average scores than overweight, the lack of statistical significance of these differences can be explained by student specialization, constant involvement in physical performance, curricular or leisure activities improving performance on balance tests for the overweight category. These results reflect the particularities of the studied group and cannot be generalized for the university population, especially due to the numerically reduced group of underweight people.