Motor and Cognitive Performance of Overweight Preschool Children
- 1 February 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Perceptual and Motor Skills
- Vol. 116 (1), 40-57
- https://doi.org/10.2466/22.25.pms.116.1.40-57
Abstract
Gross and fine motor skills and cognitive performance in obese and overweight children were compared to healthy weight children. Participants were 1,543 children (797 boys and 746 girls) ages 43 to 84 months, attending child-care centers in Munich, Germany. According to German Body Mass Index (BMI) standards for age and sex, 4.6% of the children were classified as obese (percentile greater or equal 97), 6.8% as overweight (percentile greater or equal 90 and less than 97), 5.9% as underweight (percentile less than 10), and 83.1% as being of healthy weight. Dependent variables were physical characteristics (height, weight, skinfold thickness), physical fitness (standing broad jump, shuttle run, hanging), body coordination (balancing forward, balancing backward, lateral jump, hopping), manual dexterity (right and left hand), and cognitive performance (intelligence, verbal ability, concentration). Higher proportions of children from lower socioeconomic and immigrant backgrounds were overweight. There was no association between weight and sex. Overweight children showed lower performance on gross motor skills (coordination and fitness), manual dexterity, and intelligence compared to healthy weight children, even after controlling for the effects of social class and immigration status.This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
- Obesity and motor skills among 4 to 6-year-old children in the united states: nationally-representative surveysBMC Pediatrics, 2012
- Gross motor coordination in relation to weight status and age in 5- to 12-year-old boys and girls: A cross-sectional studyPediatric Obesity, 2011
- Fitness, fatness, cognition, behavior, and academic achievement among overweight children: Do cross-sectional associations correspond to exercise trial outcomes?Preventive Medicine, 2011
- Preventing childhood obesity: what works?International Journal of Obesity, 2009
- Association of Bicycling and Childhood Overweight StatusAmbulatory Pediatrics, 2008
- A meta-regression to examine the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive performanceBrain Research Reviews, 2006
- Interventions to prevent obesity in children and adolescents: a systematic literature reviewInternational Journal of Obesity, 2006
- Early determinants of overweight at 4.5 years in a population-based longitudinal studyInternational Journal of Obesity, 2006
- Upward weight percentile crossing in infancy and early childhood independently predicts fat mass in young adults: the Stockholm Weight Development Study (SWEDES)The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2006
- Childhood Overweight and Academic Performance: National Study of Kindergartners and First‐GradersObesity Research, 2004