Background/Purpose: Although body fatness plays a critical role on health, there are limited data available on the relations among children's percent body fat (%BF), perceived competence, PA and health-related physical fitness. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of percent body fat (%BF) on children's perceived competence, PA and fitness.
Methods: A total of 325 elementary children (140 girls; Mage=10.12) participated in 50-minute weekly exergaming classes beyond 75-minute weekly PE. Participants' %BF was determined by skinfolds, and 25% in boys and 30% in girls were identified as being in risk group (Williams et al., 1992). Participants responded to a questionnaire measuring their perceived competence toward exergaming, and had their PA levels assessed by NL-1000 pedometers for three exergaming classes. Their fitness was assessed through FITNESSGRAM (PACER, curl-up, push-up, and trunk-lift).
Analysis/Results : Approximately 8.3% of children fell into risk group. Our data indicated that healthy group and risk group did not differ on their perceived competence, F = .86, p < .35. However, healthy group displayed significantly higher PA levels than risk group, F = 6.66, p=.01. Healthy group also demonstrated higher PACER, curl-up, and push-up scores than risk group did, Fs= 7.59-19.51, ps <.01. The two groups did not differ on trunk-lift, F = 2.72, p = .10.
Conclusions: Skinfold-derived %BF had significant impact on children's PA in exergaming and the majority of their fitness components, but it failed to influence perceived competence. Interventions should be implemented at the population level to decrease risk children's %BF.
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