{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T15:59:27Z","timestamp":1792511967962,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782172800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Childhood obesity and physical inactivity are growing global public health concerns. Once predominantly observed in wealthier nations, these issues are now increasingly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to examine the relationship between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and physical literacy (PL) among children aged 8\u201312 years, and to determine whether body mass index (BMI) mediates this association.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,360 children (8\u201312 years old, mean age 10.0 \u00b1 1.4 years) from 85 higher secondary schools in South Punjab, Pakistan. Physical activity and PL were assessed using the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (CAPL-2) protocol. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, independent\n t<\/jats:italic>\n -tests, chi-square tests, Pearson correlations, and multivariate logistic regression. A regression-based mediation analysis was conducted to examine the mediating role of BMI in the MVPA\u2013PL relationship. Age and sex were included as covariates. Statistical significance was set at\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.05 (two-tailed).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Overall, 79.9% of participants were of normal weight, 9.7% were overweight, and 5.3% were obese. Normal-weight children demonstrated significantly higher average weekly step counts, more MVPA days per week (5.04 \u00b1 1.09 vs. 4.65 \u00b1 1.17), and higher PL scores (53.76 \u00b1 11.72 vs. 45.86 \u00b1 9.87) than overweight or obese children (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.001 for all comparisons). BMI was negatively associated with PA and PL measures (\n r<\/jats:italic>\n = \u22120.136 to \u22120.300,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.01), while MVPA and step count were positively associated with PL (\n r<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.237 to 0.609,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.01). In the mediation analysis, higher MVPA was associated with lower BMI (Path a: \u03b2 = \u22120.377, SE = 0.078,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.001), and lower BMI was associated with higher PL (Path b: \u03b2 = \u22120.514, SE = 0.065,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.001). MVPA also showed a strong direct association with PL (\n c'<\/jats:italic>\n = 2.091, SE = 0.189,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.001). The indirect effect of MVPA on PL through BMI was statistically significant [\u03b2 = 0.194, 95% CI (0.107, 0.291)], accounting for approximately 8.5% of the total effect. Sex-stratified analyses indicated that the proportion of the MVPA\u2013PL association mediated through BMI was slightly higher in girls (10.2%) than in boys (7.1%).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n This study provides the first evidence from a Pakistani pediatric population that BMI partially mediates the association between MVPA and physical literacy, though the majority of this relationship remained direct. Children with overweight and obesity demonstrated lower PA participation and reduced PL scores than normal-weight peers, while girls consistently underperformed boys despite comparable BMI and knowledge levels. These findings support the need for culturally relevant, gender-responsive, school-based programmes that promote physical activity while addressing weight-related barriers in under-resourced settings.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1772818","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T05:26:53Z","timestamp":1782192413000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Does body composition mediate the association between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and physical literacy in school-aged children? A cross-sectional mediation analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Liu","family":"Long","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Suzhou University","place":["Suzhou, Anhui, China"]},{"name":"Research Centre Wujia School, Suzhou University","place":["Suzhou, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Syed Ghufran","family":"Hadier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Sports and Holistic Health, Sichuan Technology and Business University","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Syed Danish","family":"Hamdani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling","place":["Stirling, United Kingdom"]},{"name":"Stirling College, Chengdu University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Syed Muhammad Zeeshan Haider","family":"Hamdani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sports Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University","place":["Multan, Pakistan"]},{"name":"Faculty of Sport Science, School of Exercise and Health, Shanghai University of Sport","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaista Shireen","family":"Danish","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Sports and Health, School of Sports Science, Department of Exercise Physiology, Beijing Sport University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1417284","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1417284","article-title":"Establishing age- and sex-specific anthropometric growth references standards for South Punjab adolescents utilizing the LMS method: findings from the Pakistani 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