Podiatry Department, Health Sciences Faculty, University of Malaga, Spain.
Podiatry Department, Health Sciences Faculty, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), University of Malaga, Spain.
Gait Posture. 2019 Jun;71:69-73. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.03.031. Epub 2019 Mar 30.
The musculoskeletal and neurosensorial development of children can be affected by excess body weight. Studies have examined how childhood obesity affects gait, but much about the influence of this factor remains to be determined. The aim of our study is to analyse, in a large sample of children, the influence of obesity on the spatiotemporal parameters of the gait cycle, in the most natural way possible, with the subjects walking overground at a self-selected speed.
For this study, the sample was composed of 238 healthy school children, composed of 114 (47.9%) girls and 124 (52.1%) boys, aged 7-11 years. For each one, the body mass index was calculated, according to which the subjects were classified by percentiles as low weight, normal weight, overweight or obese. Anthropometric variables were measured and the spatiotemporal parameters of gait were assessed by the OptoGait portable photocell system.
The spatial variables did not reveal significant differences between the children with normal weight and those with obesity. However, the differences for stance phase, load response and pre-swing phase (p = 0.0001, p = 0.016 and p = 0.0001, respectively) were clearly significant.
Childhood obesity exerts a significant influence on gait by increasing the duration of load response and that of the pre-swing towards the oscillation phase and therefore the total duration of the support phase. This outcome requires greater energy expenditure to stabilise the gait of children with obesity, and could have biomechanical repercussions.
本研究旨在分析大量儿童中肥胖对步态周期时空参数的影响，使受试者以自然的方式在自然地面上以自选择速度行走，尽可能以最自然的方式分析肥胖对步态的影响。
该研究的样本由 238 名健康的学龄儿童组成，其中 114 名（47.9%）为女孩，124 名（52.1%）为男孩，年龄 7-11 岁。对每位儿童计算体重指数，根据体重指数按百分位数将儿童分为低体重、正常体重、超重或肥胖。测量人体测量变量，并使用 OptoGait 便携式光电系统评估步态的时空参数。
体重正常和肥胖儿童之间的空间变量没有显著差异。然而，站立相、负荷反应和预摆相的差异具有统计学意义（p=0.0001、p=0.016 和 p=0.0001）。
儿童肥胖通过增加负荷反应和预摆相的持续时间（即摆动相的前摆相），从而增加支撑相的总持续时间，对步态有显著影响。这种结果需要更多的能量消耗来稳定肥胖儿童的步态，可能会产生生物力学影响。
