Biological Maturation, Body Morphology and Physical Performance in 8–16 year-old obese girls from Montes Claros – MG

Measurements of maturity depend on the biological system considered since differences are often found in performance and body size in subjects of the same chronological age. The objective of this study was to identify associations between biological maturation, body morphology and physical performance in girls aged from 8.0 to 15.9 year-old and to verify the bone age in obese girls and compare it with chronological age. For that purpose 2040 (11.9 ± 2.3 years) school girls from Montes Claros, participated in this study. Regular anthropometric measures as height and body mass were taken. Triceps, biceps, subscapular, abdominal, suprailiac and calf skinfolds were also registered. Physical performance was assessed trough the test of a standing long jump, handgrip strength and 20 m multistage shuttle run. Maturational status, the average age at menarche and identification of PHV (maturity off set) were determined by means of the retrospective method. Girls with the BMI above the 95th percentile got their bone age evaluated through X-ray of the left hand/wrist, in accordance with the FELS method. It was possible to find an average age at menarche of 11.30 ± 0.70, while the average age at PHV was 12.17 ± 0.71 years of age. It was observed that both body composition and physical performance showed a tendency to increase with advancing age. However, when controlling the effect of maturation, despite having higher values in body composition the post-menarche girls group did not show higher levels of physical performance. In all age groups, obese girls showed mean rates of bone age higher than chronologic age (12.25 ± 2.09 and 14.09 ± 2.35, respectively, p=0.000). Chronological age should be used with caution when evaluating obese teenagers as it may underestimate biological age.