An Exploration of the Relationship of Body Mass Index with Motor Performance Measures and Quality of Life in Children Living in an Urban Setting

While the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents aged 2-19 in the United States has remained stable at about 17% since 2003 (1) childhood obesity continues to be an area of significant concern. Obesity rates tend to be highest among children in families who function at or below the poverty threshold (2). While studies have found higher than average prevalence of obesity in urban youth (3), comparative studies indicate that children residing in rural areas also run higher than average risk of obesity (4,5) with children in rural areas having up to 30% greater chance of being overweight or obese than children in non-rural areas even after adjustments for sociodemographic, health, diet and exercise (6).