Influência do índice de massa corporal no nível de aptidão física de crianças do ensino fundamental

Changes in eating habits, especially in children, can trigger a situation of overweight and obesity. Faced with this, excess fat accumulation and poor body distribution can impact on various health and physical fitness consequences. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the components of physical fitness in male children belonging to elementary school. The sample consisted of 50 children from private schools and the collections were made in the schools themselves. At first, all anthropometric and explosive force tests (vertical jump and horizontal jump) were performed. In a second moment (48 hours after), the remaining evaluations were made, being they flexibility and cardiorespiratory capacity. According to the data obtained, a significant difference in the cardiorespiratory capacity between the eutrophic (ET) and overweight (SB) groups was observed in comparison to the obese group (OB) (p=0.03 and p=0.02 respectively). In the vertical jump test, a difference was observed between SB x OB groups (p=0.05). In the results of flexibility and horizontal jump, no significant difference between groups was found. Thus, it can be concluded that obesity in children under study can affect their aerobic capacity and strength when compared to eutrophic and overweight children.