The prevalence of sedentary behavior among children has increased owing to the popularity of video games and smartphones. Conversely, sports injuries caused by excessive physical activity (PA) at a young age have also been reported. The lack of PA or, conversely, excessive sports strain during childhood has resulted in changes in children, such as a decline in their basic physical ability. This article addresses “Juvenile Musculoskeletal Dysfunction (JMD),” a musculoskeletal dysfunction in children without a clear underlying disease, and its associated factors. This study was an adjunct to a birth cohort study in Hyogo, Japan. This study included 1217 children aged 8 years (568 males and 649 females). All children underwent physical examinations of single-leg stance, squatting, upper-limb elevation, and forward bending as the JMD screening. JMD was defined as the inability to perform one or more of the four physical movements, which included a questionnaire regarding their history of musculoskeletal pain and fractures. The parents of each patient participant completed the questionnaire regarding a history of musculoskeletal pain and fractures of their child. Factors associated with JMD were analyzed using logistic regression models. The prevalence of JMD was 36.0% (n = 438). The inability to perform “single-leg stance,” “squatting,” “upper limb elevation,” and “forward bending” was 8.6%, 10.3%, 6.4%, and 19.7% in all cases (male and female), respectively. In total, 6.8% (n = 83) had musculoskeletal pain and 9.2% (n = 112) had a history of fracture. The JMD group had a significantly higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and a greater history of fractures than the non-JMD group. Demographic factors such as obesity and sex (male) were associated with JMD (Odd ratios were 3.06 95% Confidence interval [CI: 1.62–5.79] and 1.98 95%CI: 1.54–2.55, respectively). This study defined JMD using simple physical examinations and investigated its associated factors in 8-year-old children. JMD was found to be more common in males with obesity and was associated with a history of fracture, and musculoskeletal pain, while habitual physical activity showed an inverse association with JMD.
Hatano et al. (Wed,) studied this question.