Background and Objective: In addition to metabolic complications, the prevalence of obesity in children is associated with deficits in postural control and decreased neuromuscular coordination. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of functional training on balance, muscle coordination, and body composition indices in 8-12 years obese children.

Method: This study was a clinical trial with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. Twenty-four children with obesity (BMI percentile above 95) were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental (12 people) and control (12 people) groups. The experimental group performed a functional exercise program for 12 weeks (3 sessions of 60 minutes per week) during hours outside of school. Balance, muscle coordination, and body composition (weight and fat percentage) were measured before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at the significant level of 0.05.

Results: The results showed that after 12 weeks of intervention, there was a significant increase in movement indices including balance and muscle coordination in the experimental group compared to the control >group (P Also, functional training led to a significant decrease in body fat percentage and body weight in the experimental group compared to the control group (P=0.005).

Conclusion: It seems that functional training, as a safe and attractive rehabilitation and corrective intervention, in addition to improving body composition, can significantly improve motor efficiency and neuromuscular coordination in children with obesity.