DIFFERENCES IN MOTOR SKILLS OF STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF SECURITY SCIENCES BASED ON BODY MASS INDEX

Abstract

A study was conducted on a sample of 305 participants, students of the Faculty of Security Sciences of the University of Banja Luka, representing the population of 19- to 20-year-old police trainees, to determine differences in motor skills based on body mass index (BMI). The diagnosis of body mass index (BMI) status as a basic measure for the assessment of physical and nutritional status was subjected to a cluster analysis to define six categories of participants hypothetically characteristic for the specificity of the population studied. In accordance with the health epidemiological standards of the World Health Federation, a universal categorization of BMI values was made: underweight individuals, normal weight individuals, overweight individuals or individuals with excessive body weight, preobese individuals (mild obesity), obese individuals (moderate obesity), and morbidly obese individuals (severe obesity). The central values of the isolated BMI clusters in the sample studied were as follows: BMI cluster 1 = 18.70 kg/m2, cluster 2 = 20.61 kg/m2, cluster 3 = 22.16 kg/m2, cluster 4 = 23.83 kg/m2, cluster 5 = 25.81 kg/m2, and cluster 6 = 27.38 kg/m2. In the first cluster, 8 participants were identified, representing 2.6 % of the population studied, in the second cluster 57 participants or 18.7 %, in the third cluster 68 participants or 22.3 %, in the fourth cluster 138 participants or 45.2 %, in the fifth cluster 22 participants or 7.2 % and in the sixth cluster 12 participants or 3.9 % of the population studied. The results of this study indicate that there are differences in motor skills variables between certain categories of participants: Standing Long Jump (MSDM) - assessing lower extremity explosive strength - and Cooper 12-Minute Run Test (MKUP) - assessing aerobic endurance, while the Maximum Number of Sit-ups (MPTR) variable - assessing dynamic core strength - is at the borderline of statistical significance.