Is body fat mass associated with worse gross motor skills in preschoolers? An exploratory study

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 9;17(3):e0264182. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264182. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

We compared the motor competence between overweight/obese and eutrophic preschoolers with similar physical activity levels, age, socioeconomic status, maternal education, quality of the home environment and quality of the school environment. We also investigated to what extent excess body fat mass explains gross motor skills in preschoolers. A cross-sectional quantitative and exploratory study was conducted with 48 preschoolers assigned into eutrophic and overweight/obese groups. Overweight/obese preschoolers had worse Locomotor subtest standard scores than the eutrophic ones (p = 0.01), but similar Object Control subtest and Gross Motor Quotient scores (p > 0.05). Excess body fat mass explained 12% of the low Locomotor subtest standard scores in preschoolers (R2 = 0.12; p = 0.007). Excess body fat mass was associated with worse locomotor skills when the model was adjusted for physical activity levels, age, socioeconomic status, maternal education, quality of the home environment and quality of the school environment. Thus, excess body fat mass partly explains lower locomotor skills in preschoolers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue
  • Body Mass Index
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Exercise
  • Humans
  • Motor Skills*
  • Obesity
  • Overweight*

Grants and funding

This study was financed (financial support and scholarships) in part by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG APQ-01898-18), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001, and the Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.