Abstract

Currently, lack of movement is one of the main causes of excess body weight in school-age children, reducing physical and mental health. The objective of this research was to compare motor coordination, perceived quality of life and Body Mass Index in school-age children who participate in extracurricular sports (GDEP) with those who only participate in physical education classes (GEFI). Two hundred and fifty-two school-age children (83 girls and 169 boys; 11.5 +/- 0.7 years) participated in this study. The evaluation of Perceived Quality of Life was evaluated with the KIDSCREEN-27. Motor coordination (MC) was assessed with the K & ouml;rperkoordinations test F & uuml;r Kinder (KTK). Furthermore, Height and body weight were measured. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. The results showed that in MC, GDEP students have better performance than GEFI (p<0.05) effect size (ES) moderate (d= 0.28 to 0.45). In Perceived Quality of Life, there was a significant difference in the Physical Activity and Health dimension (p<0.01), ES moderate (d= 0.52). Likewise, better values for GDEX were observed for Body Weight (p<0.05) and BMI (p<0.01), with moderate ES (d= 0.30 and 0.28; respectively). Furthermore, GDEP students in the normal weight group presented better results in MC than those in the obesity group (p<0.05), and in GEFI the normal weight students obtained better values in balancing backwards, hopping for height, KTK total score and in the perception of Physical activity and health (p< 0.05). It is concluded that school-age children who participate in scholar sports have better MC, perception of physical well-being and health, Body Weight, and BMI. Furthermore, school-age children with obesity show a deficit in MC and lower levels of Perceived Quality of Life in physical activity and health.