The influence of obesity on the motor coordination in children between 6 and 9 years of age

ObjectiveObesity is the most common childhood illness in developed countries and its prevalence continues to increase. The objective was to analyze the influence of obesity on the motor coordination of children between 6 and 9 years old.Equipment and methodsA number of 52 pupils of both genders participated for evaluation of the prevalence of obesity using the measurement of the abdominal perimeter and the Body Mass Index (BMI) categorized as Normal-Weighted, Excess Weight and Obesity. The assessment of motor coordination was performed by the KTK test. SPSS (version 19.0) was used for statistical purposes.ResultsGirls had lower levels of performance rather than boys, and the pupils presented worse levels of motor performance as the age progressed. Regarding the prevalence of obesity, the two-gender obtained high mean values for the Normal-weighted category, whereas 25% is overweight. Regarding the level of motor coordination, 57.7% of the pupils had Normal Coordination and 40.4% had coordinative difficulties. Pupils with higher values of BMI and abdominal perimeter obtains lower results of motor coordination.