title: Relationship between motor skill and body mass index in 5- to 10-year-old children.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate gross and fine motor skill in overweight and obese children compared with normal-weight peers. According to international cut-off points for Body Mass Index (BMI) from Cole et al. (2000), all 117 participants (5-10 year) were classified as being normal-weight, overweight, or obese. Level of motor skill was assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC). Scores for balance (p < .01) and ball skills (p < .05) were significantly better in normal-weight and overweight children as compared with their obese counterparts. A similar trend was found for manual dexterity (p < .10). This study demonstrates that general motor skill level is lower in obese children than in normal-weight and overweight peers.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in the Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium. eva.dhondt@ugent.be
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: D Hondt
authors.forename: Benedicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Deforche
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Bourdeaudhuij
authors.forename: Matthiew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenoir
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D009068:Movement; D050177:Overweight; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic