Fine and gross motor skills differ between healthy-weight and obese children

Abstract

Within the obesity literature, focus is put on the link between weight status and gross motor skills. However, research on fine motor skills in the obese (OB) childhood population is limited. Therefore, the present study focused on possible weight related differences in gross as well as fine motor skill tasks. Thirty-four OB children (12 ♀ and 22 ♂, aged 7-13 years) were recruited prior to participating in a multidisciplinary treatment program at the Zeepreventorium (De Haan, Belgium). Additionally, a control group of 34 age and gender-matched healthy-weight (HW) children was included in the study. Anthropometric measures were recorded and gross and fine motor skills were assessed using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, second edition (BOT-2). Results were analyzed by independent samples t-tests, multivariate analysis of variance, and a chi-squared test. Being OB was detrimental for all subtests evaluating gross motor skill performance (i.e., upper-limb coordination, bilateral coordination, balance, running speed and agility, and strength). Furthermore, OB children performed worse in fine motor precision and a manual dexterity task, when compared to their HW peers. No group differences existed for the fine motor integration task. Our study provides evidence that lower motor competence in OB children is not limited to gross motor skills alone; OB children are also affected by fine motor skill problems. Further investigation is warranted to provide possible explanations for these differences. It is tentatively suggested that OB children experience difficulties with the integration and processing of sensory information. Future research is needed to explore whether this assumption is correct and what the underlying mechanism(s) could be.

Motor Competence and its Effect on Positive Developmental Trajectories of Health

“…Evidence from several cross-sectional studies with large samples of children, adolescents, and young adults clearly demonstrates an inverse association (r = -0.20 to r = -0.62) between both factors using various MC and weight status measures [7,42,[73][74][75][76]. In addition, differences in MC levels of overweight/obese children as compared with healthy weight peers are more evident in tasks requiring manipulation of total body mass [74,77,78]. Inverse associations between MC and weight status emerge at pre-school age [76,79,80] and become stronger during elementary school years [42,75].…”

Childhood obesity affects postural control and aiming performance during an upper limb movement

“…For instance, reduced postural stability while standing leads to longer movement time and deceleration phase during a goal-directed movement in obese [2]. Furthermore, the impact of body weight on the execution of functional motor tasks relative to postural control among children have been well documented, particularly for the 6-7 year old age group, where motor development first reaches maturity [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Many of these studies investigated the effect of obesity on gross motor skills such as walking backwards along balance beams of decreasing width, moving sideways on wooden boards, one-legged hopping over a foam obstacle, and two-legged jumping from side to side [12,13], or on fine motor skills such as a peg placing task [6].…”

Impacts of obesity and stress on neuromuscular fatigue development and associated heart rate variability

“…In healthy adults, stress has shown to impair motor function, [16][17][18] increase muscle fatigability 19,20 and hinder muscular and cardiovascular recovery, 21 which can ultimately put stressed workers at greater risks of developing musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases. 22,23 Recent investigations have suggested that obesitylinked structural changes in the brain 24 can result in slower information processing speed and reduce efficiency of sensory integration 25 that has shown to impair both cognitive 26 and motor functions. 11 Because obese adults perceive higher stress levels at work compared with their normal-weight colleagues, 13,27,28 it is likely that stress, due to intense workload, may contribute to greater muscle fatigability in this population, though this has yet to be investigated.…”