Association between anthropometric variables and quality of fundamental movements in a sample of Chilean schoolchildren between 12 and 14 years old

Abstract

Introduction: Although there is a relationship between overweight, physical activity and movement quality, the relationship between other anthropometric variables related to body composition and the quality of fundamental movement patterns is not clear. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between anthropometric variables and the quality of fundamental movement in children. Material and method: Observational cross-sectional study. 18 children (11 males) of 12.72 ± 0.57 years old were assessed. Weight, height, body mass index, waist perimeter, hip perimeter, waist-to-hip, and waist-to-height indexes and percentage of adipose tissue were evaluated, and the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) to determine the quality of fundamental movements was applied. To determine the relationship between anthropometric variables and FMS tests, the Pearson's correlation test was calculated, with a significance level of 0.05. Results: A positive relationship was found between height, total FMS score (0.62; p <0.01), and the hurdle step test (0.74; p <0.01), whereas negative associations between adipose tissue percentage vs deep squat test (-0.58; p <0.05), and waist-to-height index vs rotational stability test (-0.48; p <0.01) were found. Conclusion: There is a positive relationship between height and fundamental movements quality in children. Furthermore, variables related to body composition such as adipose tissue percentage and hip waist index, had a negative relationship with some of the FMS tests. Therefore, we can conclude that there is an association between anthropometric variables and movement quality in children.