Is Adiposity Associated with the Quality of Movement Patterns in the Mid-Adolescent Period?

Abstract

This study examined the association between functional movement (FM) and adiposity in adolescent population (16–17 years). This study was conducted in a representative sample of urban adolescents as the part of the CRO-PALS longitudinal study (n = 652). Body mass index (BMI), a sum of four skinfolds (S4S), waist and hip circumference were measured, and FM was assessed via Functional Movement ScreenTM (FMSTM). Furthermore, total FMSTM screen was indicator of FM with the composite score ranged from 7 to 21, with higher score indicating better FM. Multilevel analysis was employed to determine the relationship between different predictors and total FMS score. In boys, after controlling for age, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and socioeconomic status, total FMS score was inversely associated only with BMI (β = −0.18, p < 0.0001), S4S (β = −0.04, p < 0.0001), waist circumference (β = −0.08, p < 0.0001), and hip circumference (β = −0.09, p < 0.0001). However, among girls, in adjusted models, total FMS score was inversely associated with S4S (β = −0.03, p < 0.0001), while BMI (β = −0.05, p = 0.23), waist circumference (β = −0.04, p = 0.06), and hip circumference: (β = −0.01, p = 0.70) failed to reach statistical significance. Results showed that the association between adiposity and FM in adolescence is sex-specific, suggesting that boys with overweight and obesity could be more prone to develop dysfunctional movement patterns. Therefore, exercise interventions directed toward correcting dysfunctional movement patterns should be sex-specific, targeting more boys with overweight and obesity rather than adolescent girls with excess weight.

The Assessment of Functional Movement in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…FMS™ Functional Movement Screen™ 3 in the UK [4,50,51], 2 in Croatia [56,57] and a single study each from India [44], Iran [40] and Moldova [54]. Fourteen of the study designs were cross-sectional [4,40,44,[46][47][48][49][51][52][53][54][55][56][57], and a single study each was a cluster randomised controlled trial [45], randomised controlled trial [43], quasi-experimental [41], matched pairs experiment [50], and a single-arm trial [42]. The sample sizes ranged from 20 [42] to > 1000 [44].…”

“…All studies had minimal missing data, and all used the FMS™ assessment tool [2,3], which is reported to be both valid and reliable in the assessment of functional movement among the included samples. The majority of studies (89%; 17/19 studies) examined potential correlates [4,40,41,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][51][52][53][54][55][56][57] in a valid and reliable manner.…”

Assessment of Dysfunctional Movements and Asymmetries in Children and Adolescents Using the Functional Movement Screen—A Narrative Review

“…Of the available studies, some include both boys and girls [32,40,41,44 Of the studies that included both boys and girls, some studies have not reported sex differences in the FMS [57,77,78,82]. Other studies have reported no significant differences in the FMS scores between boys and girls [36,38,41,44,48,49,58,62,63,76,81,83,86,87,[89][90][91]93,99,103,110].…”

“…Functional Movement. A functional movement implies an optimal range of motion (flexibility of the soft tissue and mobility of the joints), balance, and neuromotor postural control of the body regions involved in the specific movement [ 34 , 35 , 40 , 41 ].…”

“…Dysfunctional Movement . Suboptimal movement quality characterized by compensatory movement along the kinetic chain, observed asymmetry, and loss of range of motion, balance, posture, and motor control of the specific movement [ 34 , 35 , 40 , 41 ].…”