Coordena？？o global, equilíbrio, índice de massa corporal e nível de atividade física: um estudo correlacional em idosos de Ivoti, RS, Brasil

objective: this study aimed to assess the relationship among body mass index (bmi), physical activity level, global coordination, and postural balance in an elderly population from ivoti, state of rio grande do sul, brazil. methods: this descriptive cross-sectional study assessed a convenience sample of 202 elderly female and male subjects. it was used the global coordination test and the postural balance test and calculated the bmi according to the cutoff points: malnutrition: < 22.0 kg/m2, normal weight: from 22.0 to 27.0 kg/m2, and obesity: > 27.0 kg/m2. the level of physical activity was classified in mets as: high active from 1,500 to 3,000 mets-min/week; moderate from 600 to 1499 mets-min/week and low below 600 mets-min/week. data was submitted to the descriptive statistical and the spearman correlation (α = 0.05) using the spss software, version 16.0. the study was approved by the ethics research committee of universidade feevale, novo hamburgo, rs, brazil. results: among the 202 individuals, 62 (30.7%) were males and 140 (69.3%), females. the male and female age averages were 69.53 ± 6.23 and 67.52 ± 5.69 years old, respectively. the general sample age average was 68.14 ± 5.92 years. negative correlation between bmi and global coordination and bmi and balance was detected, r = -0.423 (p < 0.01) and r = -0.3060 (p < 0.01), respectively. however, when stratified by sex, these associations were not significant for males. the physical activity level showed negative correlation when compared with bmi (r= -0,219) and with age (r= -0,241), it had a positive correlation when compared with global coordination (r= 0,274) and balance (r=0,191). when compared bmi and balance and age and balance no correlation was found in the elderly subjects classified as sufficiently active. global coordination and balance were positively correlated to the level of physical activity only in female subjects. however, bmi is negatively correlated to the level of physical activity of bot