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Research Article: Developmental Coordination Disorder and Unhealthy Weight Status in Taiwanese Children: The Roles of Sex and Age

Date Published: 2023-07-06

Abstract:
This study aimed to provide up-to-date information regarding the estimated prevalence of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in Taiwanese children. Their unhealthy weight status was also examined, as well as the roles of sex and age. This cross-sectional study recruited 825 children aged between 4 and 12 years and categorized them into either typically developing children (TD, >16th percentile) or children at risk for DCD (rDCD, ?16th percentile) based on the result of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children—2nd edition. Body mass index was calculated to determine weight status (i.e., normal weight, underweight, overweight, and obesity). The estimated prevalence of rDCD was 9.7%. There were significantly more boys in the rDCD groups (p < 0.001). Additionally, preschool children with rDCD were at greater risk for being underweight. However, there was no significant group difference which was found for overweight/obesity. A lower prevalence of rDCD was found in this study. Nevertheless, children with rDCD may be more likely to be underweight in early childhood. Early intervention should be provided to target this population.

Introduction:
Unhealthy weight, including underweight, overweight, or obesity, has been reported to be a global child health issue by the World Health Organization as these non-communicate disorders might be strongly associated with a variety of physical or mental health problems, such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, internalizing or externalizing problems [1,2,3]. In Taiwan, the prevalence of childhood underweight and overweight/obesity were respectively estimated to be 5.6% and 26.8% in preschool children [4],…

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