ArticleBMC pediatrics2022
Underweight children are agile but lack power.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Do physical fitness and motor skill performances in underweight children differ from normal weight peers? A meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Measuring gross motor skills in African children using the PERF-FIT.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Differences in motor skill-related physical fitness between moderately thin and normal weight rural Ethiopian children (ages 5-7).Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Association between body mass index and physical fitness index among middle and high school students aged 13-18 in Shanxi Province: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Moderate thinness and its association with muscle strength of children 5-7 years in Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Age- and sex-related changes in children with and without generalized joint hypermobility: a two-year follow-up study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Dysphagia Among Children-A Single-Center Experience.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Configurational paths to promoting children's agility and balance quality: based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The strength of balance: Strength and dynamic balance in children with and without hypermobility.PloS one · 2024Article
- Is it possible to identify physical-motor profiles of preschool children on their association with selected biosocial factors?Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Body Mass Index and Physical Fitness among Chinese Adolescents Aged 15-18: A Cross-Sectional Study of Gender Differences.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Demographic Distribution of Hypermobility in a Random Group of School-Aged Children in Nigeria.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Given the knowledge gap in literature on the impact of undernutrition on muscular power and agility in school-aged children, the aim of this study was to compare physical fitness in such underweight- and normal weight children. In this cross-sectional study, 853 children were included (459 boys; mean age: 9.2 (1.8) years). The children were grouped according to their BMI-for-age-and-sex: normal weight (- 1 ≤ z-score < 2) and underweight (z-score < - 1). Within the underweight group, three thinness subgroups were composed: grade 1 (- 2 ≤ z-score < - 1), grade 2 (- 3 ≤ z-score < - 2) and grade 3 (z-score < - 3). Their agility, muscular endurance and power were assessed with the Performance and Fitness test battery (PERF-FIT). Regardless the country they lived in, the underweight children showed better agility (p = 0.012) and muscular endurance (p = 0.004) than those with normal weight. They presented with lower muscular power than the normal weight group, shown by significantly shorter overhead throwing distances (p = 0.017) and less standing long jump peak power (p < 0.001). The standing long jump peak power decreased further with increasing thinness grade (p = 0.027).Conclusion: Underweight children are more agile, but have lower muscular power compared to their normal weight peers. Its relationship with motor competence and physical activity, necessitates attention for tackling muscular strength deficiencies in these children, enabling them to meet the basic requirements for a healthy lifestyle later in life.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.