The Effects of a Gymnastics Program on Early Childhood 46yrs Fat Mass Development

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The Effects of a Gymnastics Program on Early
Childhood (4-6yrs) Fat Mass Development

• Marta Erlandson
• PhD Candidate
• College of Kinesiology
• University of Saskatchewan

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Introduction

• Dramatic rise in health care and economic costs
  associated with lifestyle behavior and
  non-communicable disease.
• Primary prevention is key (Kemper, 1985).
• Inventions in young childhood which influence fat
  development, have potential to impact adult
  health status and population health.

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• Participation in gymnastics training has been
  shown to have many positive effects on body
  composition
• fat mass development, Bone mineral
  density, lean tissue development

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Obesity Epidemic

• Obesity epidemic of global proportions (Tremblay
  Willms, 2000)
• Health professionals becoming increasingly
  concerned with the rise in obesity rates
• Most alarming is the fact that the proliferation
  of obesity not confined to the adult population
  but rather is being seen in younger generations
  as well
• Current generation of children have shorter life
  expectancy than parents (Jain, 2004)

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• The incidence of overweight children is twice as
  prevalent among 4-5 year olds compared to 2-3
  year olds suggest origin of the problem begin
  early in life. (Ogden et al., 1997)

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Physical Activity Fat Mass

• Youth of both sexes who participate in PA have
  less adiposity (Berkey et al, 2000 Eisenmann, et
  al., 2002).
• Benefits of PA on fat mass also seen in young
  children (Janz et al, 2002 Moore et al, 2003)
• 4-6 yrs old PA inversely related to adipose
• Children engaged in highest levels of daily PA
  consistently smaller gains in BMI and Skinfolds

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Gymnastics Fat Mass

• Adolescent and adult gymnasts have been
  consistently found to have significantly less fat
  mass and body fat (Laing et al, 2002 Gurd et
  al, 2003).
• However effects in early childhood relatively
  unknown.

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Methods
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Participants

• 158 males and females 4-6 years of age
• Number of children in each cohort (by gender,
  group, and age)

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Anthropometric Measures

• Height
• Weight
• Sitting Height
• Waist Circumference
• Skinfolds

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Physical Activity Assessment

• Physical activity questionnaire The Netherlands
  Physical Activity Questionnaire (NPAQ)
• Items about physical activity patterns and
  everyday activity choices Capture usual
  activity patterns
• Usual hours spent watching TV and playing
  computer and video games, as measure of sedentary
  activity

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Dietary Evaluation

• Dietary Data
• 24-hour recall
• Analyzed and tabulated using the Food Processor
  Nutrition and Fitness Software version 8.5 (ESHA
  research, Salem, Oregon).

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Body Composition Measures

• Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA)
• Discovery Wi
• Considered gold standard
• Measures of bone, fat and lean tissue
• Test-retest reliability for body composition
  measures in children is high (Gutin et al., 1996)

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Statistical Analysis

• Variables presented as means and SD
• Mean differences tested using
• Group differences (gymnasts vs controls)
  independent T-Test
• Confounds accounted for (gender, age, group)
  2x3x2 factorial ANOVA
• Bonferroni post hoc
• SPSS

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Results
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Training

• Males participated 1.1 0.7 hrs/wk
• Males had been participating for 1.9 1.1 years
• Females participated 1.9 1.9 hrs/wk
• Females had been participating for 2.1 1.1
  years

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Prevalence of Overweight
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Indices of Fat Mass
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Discussion

• I hypothesized that participation in gymnastics
  would result in decreased fat mass
• However, the results revealed no significant
  difference in indices of fat mass between
  gymnasts and controls

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Fat Development

• No difference between gymnasts controls were
  found for any fat measure
• Possible reasons
• Homogeneity of groups (no difference in PA scores
  or dietary intake)
• Gymnastics may not increase overall PA at this
  age
• Gymnastics may not have been great enough
  duration or intensity to see effects
• There were gender differences

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Conclusion

• Children entering gymnastics program were no
  different than their peers
• It is hoped that if these children are followed
  longitudinal the possible benefits of gymnastics
  participation could be elicited
• Future studies need to longitudinally observe
  children engaged in physical activities to
  determine activities that result in greatest
  long-term health benefits

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Questions ???