Differences and Relationship between Body Composition and Motor Coordination in Children Aged 6-7 Years

BACKGROUND: The primary goal of this study was to investigate the relationship
between body composition and motor coordination performance, and the secondary
goal was to determine sex differences in body composition and motor coordination
of preschool children.
METHODS: Forty-eight children (23 boys and 25 girls) underwent assessments for
body composition and motor coordination using the Köperkoordinationstest für
Kinder (KTK).
RESULTS: Linear regression analysis revealed significant associations between
body composition and motor coordination in boys (p < 0.05) but not in girls. In boys, Body height (p = 0.01), Total muscle mass (p = 0.03), Total fat (p = 0.03), and Total water (p = 0.02) show statistically significant influence on single-leg jumps. Similar results were obtained for lateral jumps where there was a statistically significant influence of Body height (p = 0.01), Total muscle mass (p = 0.03), and Total water (p = 0.02). Interestingly, predictive variables showed no statistically significant influence on KTK overall score in boys (p = 0.42) nor in girls (p = 0.90). CONCLUSIONS: The predictive system of morphological variables demonstrated significance only among boys in this age group and sample. Girls outperformed boys due to early maturation, resulting in better average KTK scores. DOI: 10.3390/sports12060142 PMCID: PMC11209307 PMID: 38921836 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.