Background. Evidence shows that obesity negatively influences children's physical, physiological and musculoskeletal well-being. Objectives. This study examined the relationship between triponderal mass index (TMI), blood pressure (BP), and musculoskeletal fitness (MSF) in a cross-sectional sample of school children in Ado-Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria. Methods. Body weight, stature, systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP & DBP), and three components of musculoskeletal fitness, comprising sit and reach (SR), sit-up (SUP), standing broad jump (SBJ), and 20-meter shuttle runs, were assessed in 1229 (boys=483, 39.3%; girls=746, 60.7%) school children (age range: 9-13 years). Results. A significant positive correlation was found between TMI and SBP (r= 0.182, P < 0.01), and DBP (r= 0.090, P < 0.01), while TMI and SR (r= -0.067, P < 0.05) and SBJ (r= -0.246, P < 0.01) yielded a substantial inverse relationship. Children with severe underweight were significantly less probable to perform well in SBJ (OR= 0.96, CI= 0.94; 0.99) and 20-meter shuttle run (OR= 1.39, CI= 1.22; 1.61). Childhood overweight was associated with increased SBP (OR= 1.03, CI= 1.02; 1.05) and poor SBJ (OR= 0.98, CI= 0.97; 0.99). Obese children were significantly associated with increased SBP (OR= 1.04, CI= 1.02; 1.06), poor SR (OR= 0.92, CI= 0.87; 0.98) and SBJ (OR= 0.94, CI= 0.93; 0.96) scores compared to age-and sex-specific norms. Conclusion. Elevated BP and poor musculoskeletal fitness could adversely affect the well-being of undernourished, overweight, and obese Nigerian children. Findings implicate the need to implement dietary and physical activity intervention programs to promote desirable health-related quality of life in school-going children.

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This study examined the relationship between body image, weight discrepancy and body mass index among female university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 183 university students aged 18.7±1.17 years volunteered to participate in the study. Anthropometric variables were measured according to the protocol of International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK). Body image perception was assessed using silhouette matching techniques. Multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships between body image and weight perceptions in relation to actual physical measurements by means of two indices: Feel minus Ideal Discrepancy (FID) and FAI (Feel weight status minus actual weight status inconsistency). One-way ANOVA was computed to test for any substantial differences in the participants' dependent measures according to body mass index (BMI) categories. Percentage distribution of participants' actual weight categories were 71% (underweight), 18.6% (normal weight) and 10.4% (overweight). Using the body silhouette chart, the mean value for the participants' feel and ideal figures were 3.6 and 2.2, while their FID and FAI scores were 1.4 and 0.55, respectively. Results of the regression analysis indicated that every unit increase in Feel figure yielded a highly significant increase in BMI by 1.4 kg/m 2 . By contrast, a unit increase in the Ideal figure resulted in a non-significant decrease in BMI by -0.19 kg/m 2 . The relationship between the actual body weight and body image discrepancy among Riyadh university students has practical implications for their health.