Association of the body mass index with the overall stability index in young adult Saudi males.

Objectives: Studies have focused on obesity-induced balance instability in the older population, which has been understudied in young adults. This study aimed to determine the impact of obesity on dynamic balance in young adult Saudi males.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 704 young adult males aged between 18 and 35 years from Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA, was performed. The obesity-induced balance was evaluated with a Biodex Balance System apparatus with a movable platform, and the overall stability index (OSI) was measured as an indicator of dynamic balance. Participants with a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m were considered obese.

Results: The mean age and BMI of the participants was 20 years and 25.6 kg/m, respectively. The mean OSI of the entire sample was 0.9, and the OSI values increased significantly ( < 0.001) with increasing BMI. The adjusted correlation between OSI and BMI was 0.487 ( < 0.001). Logistic regression showed that for each one-unit increment in BMI, there was an expected rise of 0.115 units in the OSI value. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the optimal threshold of the weight and BMI cutoff points that optimized the OSI values were 18.8 kg/m and 54.5 kg, respectively, with high sensitivity and specificity values. In addition, BMI affected approximately 23% of the total variability on balance (partial eta squared = 0.227,  < 0.001).

Conclusion: Obesity has a clear impact on dynamic balance in the selected young males. Weight management programs for obese subjects should be encouraged to optimize BMI and weight, which can attenuate balance stability.