Body Mass Index in determination of the relationship between body constitution and motor abilities

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review and summarize the theoretical and empirical facts of using the (BMI), (body mass index) in determining the relationship between body constitution and motor skills. Several key circumstances have been identified in which the body mass index can give erroneous information about the actual body composition, and especially about the amount of adipose tissue in the body. Factors such as age, sex, race, health status and muscle mass can influence the connection between(BMI) and body fat. Due to a relatively low coefficient of determination between (BMI)and percentage of body fat, one should be cautious when using (BMI) to evaluate body composition as a predictor of obesity or as a substitution measure in evaluating the influence of body constitution on the efficiency of motor performances. The analysis of the sources indicates that the existence of unexplained facts uses alternative measures of body composition and their limited use in research and direct training practice. Therefore, new concepts and models are necessary in order to explain the influence of body composition on the efficiency of motor performance. Apart from the necessary evaluation of variables of percentages of fatty and muscle tissues, it could be assumed that the application of two component (BMI) = (FFMI+FMI), (Fat Free Mass Index, Fat Mass Index) and/or (MFR) model (Muscle to Fat Ratio) would provide a better comprehension of these relations.

Keywords

• body composition
• motor performances
• muscle to fat ratio
• fat mass index
• fat free mass index