Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify performance differences in the tasks of Bruininks-Oseretsky motor proficiency test (TBO-2) among eutrophic and overweight children. A total of 98 children aged 8 to 10 enrolled in three private educational institutions in Florianopolis-SC participated in the study. To evaluate the weight status, the variables of height and body mass were collected and the Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. TBO-2 was used to assess motor proficiency. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, frequency distribution, histogram of data distribution, spearman correlation and Mann Whitney U test for comparison of mean values between groups. There were negative correlations of BMI with the tasks of transferring coins (r = -0.311, p = 0.002), synchronous jump (r = -0.201, p = 0.047), arm flexion (r = -0.240, p = 0.017) and total TBO-2 score (r = -0.243; p = 0.016). In addition, there were better performances in the tasks of transferring coins (p = 0.026), synchronous jump (p = 0.030) and arm flexion (p = 0.019) in eutrophic children compared to overweight children. Although overweight children were found to perform poorly on the overall motor proficiency score, this difference was greater in specific motor tasks involving motor skills of upper limb strength, coordination and balance.