The Effect of Body Mass Index on Static and Dynamic Balance

Objectives: Obesity, which is the biggest problem of our age, is thought to negatively affect balance. Therefore, our study aims to examine the effect of body mass index (BMI) on static and dynamic balance. Materials and Methods: Our study was conducted on adults between September 2021 and July 2022. One hundred and twenty participants aged between 18-65 years who were independent in daily living activities were included in the study. Static balance was assessed using the Flamingo balance test and the Prokin Tecnobody Isokinetic Balance Device (TecnoBody S.R.L., Dalmine, Bergamo, Italy), while dynamic balance was evaluated with the Y balance test and the Prokin Tecnobody Dynamic Balance Platform Results: Flamingo balance test results had the highest values in obese individuals and statistically significant differences between the groups in the measurement conducted with the right foot (p=0.001). In Tecnobody parameters, underweight individuals demonstrated faster weight transfer completion times, and the difference between groups was statistically significant (p=0.028). Although it was observed that the static and dynamic balance values of underweight individuals were better than other groups and obese individuals were worse, the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that high BMI can negatively affect the static and dynamic balance in individuals. Therefore, attention should be paid to balance problems, especially for obese individuals.