Relationship between the Body Mass Index, Motor Skills, and Physical Ac-tivity of Early Elementary School Pupils / Povezanost indeksa tjelesne mase, motoričkih znanja i tjelesne aktivnosti učenika rane školske dobi
Authors: Nikolić Ivana , Mraković Snježana 
Published: August 2023

The aim of this research was to determine gender differences in the body mass index, motor skills, and physical activity among early elementary school pupils and their correlation. The TGMD-2 test was applied on a sample of 127 second-grade elementary school pupils (65 boys and 62 girls) to assess motor skills, while physical activity was examined using the Fels questionnaire. The body mass index was calculated based on body height and weight. Gender differences were calculated using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test, and the correlation was calculated using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The predictive value of the body mass index, locomotor, and manipulative skills based on total physical activity was calculated with the backward stepwise regression approach. According to normative values of the motor development index, the participants in this research showed an average result. The results indicate significant differences in favor of boys in manipulative skills, while no significant differences were obtained in locomotor skills, overall motor development, and the body mass index. Significant correlation of the body mass index was obtained only in girls, and it indicates a low negative correlation with the leisure time index (r = -0.29) and total physical activity (r = -0.29), and a moderately negative correlation with locomotor skills (r = -0.39) and the overall index of motor development (r = -0.35). The correlations between motor skills and physical activity were obtained only in boys and indicated a low positive correlation between manipulative skills and the leisure time index (r = 0.25) and total physical activity (r = 0.27). According to the regression analysis results, the variable’s contributions to the overall explanation of the variance are significant but quite weak. Manipulative skills explain 7.2% of the variance in the boys’ total physical activity, while the body mass index explains 6% of the total physical activity’s variance for the girls.Keywords: body mass index; motor skills; level of physical activity---Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi spolne razlike u indeksu tjelesne mase, motoričkih znanja i razine tjelesne aktivnosti te utvrditi njihovu povezanost. Na uzorku od 127 učenika, polaznika drugog razreda osnovne škole (65 dječaka i 62 djevojčice) primijenjen je test TGMD-2 za procjenu motoričkih znanja, a tjelesna aktivnost ispitana Felsovim upitnikom. Na temelju tjelesne visine i mase izračunat je indeks tjelesne mase. Razlike između spola izračunate su neparametrijskim Mann Whitney U testom, a međusobna povezanost Spearmanovim koeficijentom korelacije. Stupnjevitom regresijskom analizom Backward postupkom izračunata je prediktivna vrijednost indeksa tjelesne mase, lokomotornih i manipulativnih znanja na ukupnu tjelesnu aktivnost. Prema normativnim vrijednostima indeksa motoričkoga razvoja ispitanici ovoga uzorka imaju prosječni rezultat. Rezultati su pokazali značajne razlike u korist dječaka u manipulativnim znanjima dok u lokomotornim znanjima, ukupnom motoričkom razvoju i indeksu mase tijela nisu dobivene značajne razlike. Značajna povezanost indeksa tjelesne mase dobivena je samo kod djevojčica te ukazuje na nisku negativnu povezanost s indeksom slobodnoga vremena (r = -0,29) i ukupnom tjelesnom aktivnosti (r  = -0,29) te umjereno negativnu s lokomotornim znanjima (r= -0,39) i ukupnim indeksom motoričkoga razvoja ( r= -0,35). Povezanosti motoričkih znanja i tjelesne aktivnosti dobivene su samo kod dječaka i ukazuju na nisku pozitivnu povezanost manipulativnih znanja s indeksom slobodnoga vremena (r = 0,25) i ukupnom tjelesnom aktivnosti (r = 0,27). Prema rezultatima regresijske analize doprinosi varijabli ukupnom objašnjenju varijance su značajni, ali vrlo slabi. Manipulativna znanja objašnjavaju 7,2 % varijance ukupne tjelesne aktivnosti dječaka, a indeks tjelesne mase 6 % ukupne varijance tjelesne aktivnosti djevojčica.Ključne riječi: indeks tjelesne mase; motorička znanja; razina tjelesne aktivnosti