Body mass index and fundamental movement skill proficiency in South African girls of lower socio-economic status

Abstract

Achieving proficient fundamental movement skills (FMS) and subsequently optimising participation in physical activity (PA) may be affected by individual constraints such as being overweight or obese. A cross-sectional study design employing convenience sampling and quantitative assessment techniques was undertaken to evaluate the weight, height and FMS proficiency status of 221 girls aged nine to 12 years from three schools located in a lower socioeconomic status (SES) community in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) body mass index (BMI) calculations were used to classify the girls as normalweight, overweight or obese. FMS quantitative scores were obtained through a 40-m run for speed (seconds), standing long jump (centimetres), throw for distance (metres) and 60-second static balance stork stand test (number of errors). The overweight and obesity status was 24% and 8% respectively. There were significant differences, both statistically (p<.05) and practically (d>0.2), between the normal-weight, overweight and obese categories for jumping distance and running speed. Jumping distance and BMI was found to be negatively correlated (r = -.323) whereas running speed was positively correlated (r = .409) with BMI, stressing the unfavourable relationship that exists between these variables. BMI explained 10% of the variance in jumping distance and 17% of the variance in running speed. The high incidence (32%) of girls being overweight or obese together with the observed unfavourable relationship that exists between BMI and running and jumping highlights the need for intervention. Furthermore as BMI explains a relatively small degree of the variance in jumping and running performance and is uncorrelated with the two other FMS measures, that is throw for distance and balance, further research is required to investigate the role of other independent variables related to FMS.

Keywords: fundamental movement skills, girls, body mass index, lower socio-economic status