## 4 Discussion  
The data provided by the studied scientific papers offer different age category, gender and BMI level results largely similar to those of our study, but with obvious peculiarities/variations in the evolution of balance depending on the particularities of the investigated groups and the level of physical activism. Increased BMI values and the inclusion of children (12-15 years old) in overweight and obese classes will lead to reduced balance ability in the anterior reach direction compared to normal weight, as well as differences in muscle strength of the flexors and extensors of the lower limbs [65]. There is a negative effect of excess weight on postural control and decreased efficiency of upper limb movements. Improving the muscular strength of the lower limbs for obese people does not solve the problem, as indicated by weight loss, for a better control of the balance and efficient movements of the upper limbs [66]. Other research finds weaker values of static and dynamic balance skills for overweight boys (8-10 years) compared to their normal weight counterparts [67]. Our research identifies the association of high BMI values with poor results in most balance tests, with the exception of the one leg standing test and the functional reach test. The problems of obese people, whose balance is more pronounced than those of normal weight are reported by numerous studies. Significant weight loss, even if this reduces the values of the isometric knee extension, generates an increase in performance in the manifestation of balance and postural control, which can be optimized by physical activities that generate decreased BMI [68]. Another study which targeted a group of young males (10-21 years old) identifies problems of maintaining balance for overweight subjects, via comparison with the values of those of normal weight, applying the Bruininks-Oseretsky set of tests [69]. Our study confirms balance problems of the overweight, for the studied age category, for most of the applied tests. A study of teenagers in Kosovo on the results of Eurofit tests found that girls performed better on static balance (Flamingo test) only in the 14-15 age group; for the rest of  
Figure 3: Distribution of average values (\(\pm\)SD) in balance tests for overweight, differentiated by gender. the age groups boys performed better, but the differences between the sexes are statistically insignificant [70]. In the flamingo test, another study identifies, for the 13-15 age group, 13.6 falls for Kosovo students and 12.6 falls for Montenegrin students, with balanced results by gender [71]. For pubescent children (10-12 years) the use of balance exercises for 8 weeks \(\times\) 3 days/week improves performance on speed, agility and static balance (flamingo test). Girls have poorer results compared to boys in the initial tests, but the values are slightly better in the final ones [72]. However, we recorded for the flamingo test, the certain superiority of women over men and the very poor results of overweight. In an analysis of the influence of gender and BMI levels on balance values for children in China (8-10 years), no significant differences were found between genders and BMI classes (normal weight and obese) to maintain static bipodal balance with the eyes closed, but for the unipodal one with the eyes open, there are significant differences between genders and BMI classes. Dynamic balance assessment generates significant differences between obese and normal weight, but not between genders [73]. However, we identified superior values of women in the one standing balance test (with eyes closed), and the values of normal weight and underweight are significantly better than those of overweight. For most dynamic balance assessment tests, our research also does not find significant differences between the genders, except for the functional reach test, which is also in favor of women.