Differences in motor skill-related physical fitness between moderately thin and normal weight rural Ethiopian children (ages 5–7)

This study aims to compare motor skill-related physical fitness in children with moderate thinness (MT) to those with normal weight (NW) (aged 5-7) living in a rural Ethiopian area. In this comparative, school-based cross-sectional study, BMI-for-age was used to define the nutritional groups in 167 children aged 5-7, including 74 MT children (BMI-for-age =[-3;-2]) and 93 NW children (BMI-for-age=[-1z;+1z[). The Performance and Fitness test battery (PERF-FIT) measured motor skill-related physical fitness. Differences in PERF-FIT subscales and total score were explored with ANOVA (independent variables: nutritional status and age group). Variables explaining the variance in total PERF-FIT scores were identified through multivariable linear regression. A significant interaction effect between BMI category and age groups was found for the PERF-FIT total score (F_2,161=5.69, p = 0.004) and the Motor Skill subscale (F_2,161=7.01, p = 0.001). On the Agility and Power subscale, performance increased with age (F_2,163=9.76, p < 0.001). Also, children with MT perform significantly poorer than their NW peers (F_1,163=5.58, p = 0.019). Food security, age, grip strength and education of the mother explained 32.4% of the variance in total PERF-FIT scores. Overall, children with MT exhibit poorer motor skill-related fitness than their NW peers.