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Obese children have lower fine motor competence than their normal-weight peers

Ilse Gentier (UGent) , Eva D'Hondt (UGent) , Benedicte Deforche (UGent) , Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij (UGent) and Matthieu Lenoir (UGent)
Author
Organization
Abstract
INTRODUCTION. It is widely accepted that childhood obesity negative effects on medical, psychosocial, and fitness condition as well as on gross motor skill level. However, studies investigating fine motor skills in obese children are currently lacking, although they could provide insight in their perceptual-motor functioning. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate fine motor skills in obese compared to normal-weight children. METHODS. Thirty-six obese children were recruited, and 36 age- and gender-matched normal-weight children served as controls. Gross and fine motor skill competence was assessed by means of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (Bruininks & Bruininks, 2005). RESULTS. Scores on manual control (p=0.05), body coordination (p<0.001), and strength and agility (p<0.001) were significantly better in the normal-weight children compared to their obese counterparts, while a strong tendency was found for fine manual control (p=0.059). A main effect of age (p<0.001) revealed that the older age group obtained significant higher scores on all subtests. Furthermore, BMI related differences in manual control and body coordination varied according to age group indicating that the obese and normal-weight children belonging to the younger age group displayed more pronounced differences in their fine motor skill performance compared to the older age group. DISCUSSION. These findings confirm the detrimental effect of excess weight on gross motor skill performance. However, obese children’s fine motor skills were also affected even though in these tasks the non-contributory mass that participates in the movement is restricted. This is in line with other studies which postulate that obese children have difficulties when sensory information is needed to plan and control movements (D’Hondt et al., 2008; Petrolini et al., 1995). A possible deficit in perceptual motor skills is therefore suggested. This study also indicates that differences between normal-weight and obese children in fine motor skill performance seem to become smaller with increasing age. This contradicts the findings of D’Hondt et al. (2010) which state that the negative impact of childhood obesity seem to deteriorate across developmental time.

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MLA
Gentier, Ilse, et al. “Obese Children Have Lower Fine Motor Competence than Their Normal-Weight Peers.” ECSS 2011 Book of Abstracts, European College of Sport Science (ECSS), 2011, pp. 461–461.
APA
Gentier, I., D’Hondt, E., Deforche, B., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., & Lenoir, M. (2011). Obese children have lower fine motor competence than their normal-weight peers. ECSS 2011 Book of Abstracts, 461–461. European College of Sport Science (ECSS).
Chicago author-date
Gentier, Ilse, Eva D’Hondt, Benedicte Deforche, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, and Matthieu Lenoir. 2011. “Obese Children Have Lower Fine Motor Competence than Their Normal-Weight Peers.” In ECSS 2011 Book of Abstracts, 461–461. European College of Sport Science (ECSS).
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Gentier, Ilse, Eva D’Hondt, Benedicte Deforche, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, and Matthieu Lenoir. 2011. “Obese Children Have Lower Fine Motor Competence than Their Normal-Weight Peers.” In ECSS 2011 Book of Abstracts, 461–461. European College of Sport Science (ECSS).
Vancouver
1.
Gentier I, D’Hondt E, Deforche B, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Lenoir M. Obese children have lower fine motor competence than their normal-weight peers. In: ECSS 2011 book of abstracts. European College of Sport Science (ECSS); 2011. p. 461–461.
IEEE
[1]
I. Gentier, E. D’Hondt, B. Deforche, I. De Bourdeaudhuij, and M. Lenoir, “Obese children have lower fine motor competence than their normal-weight peers,” in ECSS 2011 book of abstracts, Liverpool, UK, 2011, pp. 461–461.
@inproceedings{3139269,
  abstract     = {{INTRODUCTION. It is widely accepted that childhood obesity negative effects on medical, psychosocial, and fitness condition as well as on gross motor skill level. However, studies investigating fine motor skills in obese children are currently lacking, although they could provide insight in their perceptual-motor functioning. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate fine motor skills in obese compared to normal-weight children.
METHODS. Thirty-six obese children were recruited, and 36 age- and gender-matched normal-weight children served as controls. Gross and fine motor skill competence was assessed by means of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (Bruininks & Bruininks, 2005).
RESULTS. Scores on manual control (p=0.05), body coordination (p<0.001), and strength and agility (p<0.001) were significantly better in the normal-weight children compared to their obese counterparts, while a strong tendency was found for fine manual control (p=0.059). A main effect of age (p<0.001) revealed that the older age group obtained significant higher scores on all subtests. Furthermore, BMI related differences in manual control and body coordination varied according to age group indicating that the obese and normal-weight children belonging to the younger age group displayed more pronounced differences in their fine motor skill performance compared to the older age group.
DISCUSSION. These findings confirm the detrimental effect of excess weight on gross motor skill performance. However, obese children’s fine motor skills were also affected even though in these tasks the non-contributory mass that participates in the movement is restricted. This is in line with other studies which postulate that obese children have difficulties when sensory information is needed to plan and control movements (D’Hondt et al., 2008; Petrolini et al., 1995). A possible deficit in perceptual motor skills is therefore suggested. This study also indicates that differences between normal-weight and obese children in fine motor skill performance seem to become smaller with increasing age. This contradicts the findings of D’Hondt et al. (2010) which state that the negative impact of childhood obesity seem to deteriorate across developmental time.}},
  author       = {{Gentier, Ilse and D'Hondt, Eva and Deforche, Benedicte and De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse and Lenoir, Matthieu}},
  booktitle    = {{ECSS 2011 book of abstracts}},
  isbn         = {{9780956890306}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Liverpool, UK}},
  pages        = {{461--461}},
  publisher    = {{European College of Sport Science (ECSS)}},
  title        = {{Obese children have lower fine motor competence than their normal-weight peers}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}