3 DIFFERENCES IN POSTURAL STATUS OF SENIOR GRADE SCHOOLCHILDREN ACCORDING TO GENDER AND AGE (Original scientifc paper) Momčilo Pelemiš 1 , Darijan Ujsasi 2 , Vladan Pelemiš 3 , Nebojša Mitrović 1 and Dajana Lalić 4 1 University of East Sarajevo, Faculty of Education, Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, Novi Sad, Serbia 3 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Teacher Education, Belgrade, Serbia 4 ”Dragan Lukic“Primary School, Belgrade, Serbia Abstract The study was conducted on a sample of 166 subjects divided into three subsamples: 62 ffth grade subjects (42 boys and 20 girls), 54 sixth grade subjects, (33 boys and 21 girls) and 50 seventh grade subjects (35 boys and 15 girls), who attended “Ivo Lola Ribar” primary school in Sombor at the time of the postural status assessment. The aim of the study was to determine statistically signifcant differences in different age and gender schoolchildren postural status. The Kruskal Wallis test revealed statistically signifcant differences between different age subjects in a variable Holding the shoulders in the sagittal plane. Investigated differences between different gender and age subjects in the postural status variables also manifested in a variable. Holding the shoulders in the sagittal plane in favour of the boys. The Man Whitney U test detected a statistically signifcant difference between the subjects of the sixth and seventh grade in the above mentioned variables in favour of the seventh grade subjects, among male subjects in the ffth and seventh grade in favour of the seventh grade subjects, and between the sixth and seventh grade subjects in favour of the seventh grade subjects. The worst results were obtained in the sixth- grade boys who revealed affected kyphotic posture. Among other analyzed groups there were no statistically signifcant differences. The obtained research results indicate worsening postural condition of the sixth grade pupils, a condition explained as the “pathology causing loss of backbone multiple function in many non-specifc conditions” associated with urban children daily habits. Keywords: Kruskal Wallis test, Man Whitney U test poor kyphotic posture, bad lordotic posture, bad scoliotic posture, inner foot arch, pupils. Research in Kinesiology 2015, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 3-10 INTRODUCTION Modern way of life, followed by the trends of IT developments, provide numerous opportunities for the intellectual development of children, at the same time almost completely ignoring their physical growth and development and affecting the locomotor apparatus change (Zivković, Milenković, & Drobnjak, 2004). Movements and actions exist through locomotor appara- tus in the three-dimensional space; however, the primary school children utilize much fewer motion activities in everyday life, which, in some ways, has become regular and stereotypical pattern of their lifestyle. To maintain a normal upright position muscles, ligaments, bones and joint system must participate and achieve a good bal- ance (Ulić, 1995). Violation of this balance leads to dis- ruption of normal posture and occurrence of poor body posture. Hence, a good posture status depends on the health status of an individual. There are many forms of deformity - deformity of the spine, chest, leg strain and deformation of the inner foot arch. When considering deformity and affected posture more attention is paid to muscle abnormalities, muscle anomalies, interac- tions and fatigue as a consequence of overload or illness (Matasović, & Strinović, 1990). Spine deformities are very common among young people, and researches (Radisavljević, Koturović, & Arađelovića , 1982; Jovović, 1999) indicate that they affect about 60 % of the total school population. Sco- liosis is frequent in primary school pupils according to onović, Kocić, Milić and Radovanović (2009). The