Background: Although the association between body mass index (BMI), physical activity (PA) and motor competence (MC) has been widely investigated, the influence of different environmental contexts is not well defined.
Aim: To analyse the relationship between BMI, PA and MC and the moderating role of the environmental context.
Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed with 668 children (318 boys) aged 5-7 years (north-eastern district - Brazil). MC (Körper koordination test fur Kinder; KTK), BMI and PA (parent reporting) were assessed. To classify three contexts of the environment a variable was created based on the presence of a sports court in school and/or environment for play or sports practice out of school. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions, interaction test and estimation of coefficients in moderation analysis were used.
Results: BMI (β = -2.93; p < .01) and age (β = 19.02; p < .01) were associated, and PA was not associated (β = 0.07; p = .05) with MC. The strength of the association between BMI and MC changed based on the environmental contexts. The better the environment context the weaker the association between BMI and MC (β = -2.93, p < .01 to β = -2.38, p = .33 to β = 0.26, p = .94).
Conclusions: The association between BMI and MC is moderated by environmental contexts.
Keywords: Child; body mass index; environment; motor skill; physical activity.