Inter-relationships among physical activity, body fat, and motor performance in 6- to 8-year-old Danish children.
This study examined the interrelationships among physical activity (PA), percent body fat (%BF), and motor performance (MP) in 498 6- to 8-year-old Danish children. PA was assessed by accelerometer, %BF was calculated from skinfolds, and the Koordinations Test für Kinder along with a throwing accuracy test was used to assess MP. PA was not correlated with %BF, but was significantly correlated with MP. The strongest correlations existed between %BF and MP. Low %BF/High PA had higher MP scores compared with High %BF/Low PA, and within the High %BF groups MP was higher in the High PA versus Low PA group. When comparing PA by %BF and MP groups, boys in the Low %BF/High MP had higher PA than both the Low %BF/Low MP and High %BF/Low MP groups. In girls, PA was highest in the High %BF/High MP group. This study highlights the complex interrelationships among PA, %BF, and MP in children and the need to develop fundamental motor skills during childhood.
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Healthy Weight Center, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
Kyle M
KM
Morrison
Anna
A
Bugge
Bianca
B
El-Naaman
Joey C
JC
Eisenmann
Karsten
K
Froberg
Karin A
KA
Pfeiffer
Lars Bo
LB
Andersen
D000054:Acceleration; D056044:Actigraphy / Q000379:methods; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis