https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2023.40 | 516-524 | PDF

Intelligence Quotient and Some Anthropometric Indices in Children Who Practice Swimming

Renato Gabriel Petrea1, Radu George Bârliba2, Cristina Elena Moraru1, Oana Mihaela Rusu1
1 “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania
2 Institute of Psychiatry “Socola” Iasi, Romania

Abstract. General human intelligence and anthropometric indices are important factors in the cognitive learning process, but also in the motor learning such as swimming.
In the period March-June 2022, we conducted a longitudinal study on 136 children aged 6.0 to 9.11 years (mean 7.2 years), who practice swimming for leisure (beginner level) in the swimming pools from Iasi city, Romania. The instruments used were the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices for intelligence quotient, an OMRON BF511 device (scale) for body mass index, adipose tissue mass and muscle tissue mass, a Makita laser rangefinder and a Makita scale for waist measurement.
The purpose of the research is finding out if there is an association between the intelligence quotient and certain anthropometric indices in children participating in introductory swimming lessons.
The main hypothesis of the research is that there is a positive association between the intelligence quotient and certain anthropometric indices in children participating in introductory swimming lessons.
The research results show that the association between intelligence quotient and body mass index is negative of moderate strength (r = −0.41; p = 0.04); the association between the intelligence quotient and the adipose tissue mass is also negative of moderate intensity (r = −0.47; p = 0.02); and between the intelligence quotient and the muscle tissue mass there is a positive association of low intensity (r = 0.23; p = 0.03).
In conclusion, we can state that among children who practice swimming in Iași City, the intelligence quotient is inversely related to the body mass index and the adipose tissue mass (if the intelligence quotient increases, the body mass index and the adipose tissue mass will decrease) and in positive relation with the muscle tissue mass (if the intelligence quotient increases, the muscle tissue mass will also increase).

Keywords: anthropometric indices, intelligence quotient, learning, swimming, children, beginner level.

The author declares that there is no conflict of interests.

This work was co-funded by the European Social Fund, through Operational Programme Human Capital 2014–2020, project number POCU/993/6/13/153322, project title “Educational and training support for PhD students and young researchers in preparation for insertion in the labor market”.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization: R.-G.P., R.-G.B, C.-E.M., and O.-M.R.; methodology, R.-G.P., C.-E.M., and O.-M.R.; software, R.-G.P., R.-G.B, and O.-M.R.; validation, R.-G.P., R.-G.B, and O.-M.R.; formal analysis, R.-G.P., C.-E.M., and O.-M.R.; investigation, R.-G.P., R.-G.B, and O.-M.R.; writing-original draft preparation, R.-G.P., R.-G.B, C.-E.M., and O.-M.R.; writing-review and editing, R.-G.P., and O.-M.R. All authors have equal contributions. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.


In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2023. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2023. Rakstu krājums
Riga, University of Latvia, 2023. 796 p. Ed. L. Daniela
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2023
ISBN 978-9934-36-116-6