title: BMI group-related differences in physical fitness and physical activity in preschool-age children: a cross-sectional analysis.
abstract: In the Ballabeina study, we investigated age- and BMI-group-related differences in aerobic fitness (20 m shuttle run), agility (obstacle course), dynamic (balance beam) and static balance (balance platform), and physical activity (PA, accelerometers) in 613 children (M age = 5.1 years, SD = 0.6). Normal weight (NW) children performed better than overweight (OW) children in aerobic fitness, agility, and dynamic balance (all p <.001), while OWchildren had a better static balance (p < .001). BMI-group-related differences in aerobic fitness and agility were larger in older children (p for interaction with age = .01) in favor of the NW children. PA did not differ between NW and OW (p > or = .1), but did differ between NW and obese children (p < .05). BMI-group-related differences in physical fitness can already be present in preschool-age children.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland. iris.niederer@unibas.ch
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Niederer
authors.forename: Susi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kriemler
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zahner
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bürgi
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ebenegger
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Jardena J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Puder
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013557:Switzerland; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis