Frontiers in sports and active living
Associations between adiposity indicators and composite motor fitness among boys and girls in late childhood
By Roca Badrić L, Badrić M, Vrga I and 1 others.
Abstract
Background
Adiposity is associated with physical and motor fitness in children, but the relative contribution of different body-composition and adiposity indicators to overall motor fitness remains unclear.
Objective
This study examined the associations of body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BF%), fat mass (FM), muscle mass (MM), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) with a composite motor fitness index (MOTOFIT) in younger school-age children.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 306 children (163 girls and 143 boys; mean age 9.89 ± 0.60 years). Body composition was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Motor fitness was evaluated using hand tapping, standing long jump, sit-ups, and the 10 × 5 m shuttle run. Standardized Z-scores from the four tests were combined into MOTOFIT. Associations were examined using Pearson correlations and separate hierarchical multiple regression models adjusted for age and sex, while differences across adiposity-status groups were analyzed using ANCOVA.