College of Health and Rehabilitation Science: Sargent College, Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
College of Health and Rehabilitation Science: Sargent College, Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Gait Posture. 2022 May;94:93-101. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.02.029. Epub 2022 Feb 25.
Individuals with obesity demonstrate deficits in postural stability, leading to increased fall risks. Controlling whole-body angular momentum is essential for maintaining postural stability during walking and preventing falls. However, it is unknown how obesity impacts whole-body angular momentum during walking.
To investigate the change in angular momentum about the body's COM during walking in individuals with different degrees of obesity.
Thirty-eight young adults with different body mass index (BMI) scores walked barefoot at their preferred speed on a treadmill for 2 min. The whole-body angular momentum has been quantified from ground reaction force and moment data to capture the rotational behavior of walking in individuals with obesity without relying solely on placing markers on anatomical landmarks.
We found that adults with higher BMI scores walked slower with shorter step length, wider step width, and longer double support time (ps<.01). Ranges of the frontal- and transverse-plane angular momentum were greater in adults with higher BMI scores (ps<.01), while no difference was observed between BMI groups in the total sum of changes in whole-body angular momentum in any plane (ps>.05).
Obesity not only decreased walking speed but also limited the ability to control mediolateral stability during walking. Investigating how obesity affects whole-body angular momentum may help better understand why adults with obesity have atypical gait with poor balance, address fall risk factors, and facilitate participation in physical activities.
肥胖个体表现出姿势稳定性缺陷，导致跌倒风险增加。控制整体角动量对于在行走过程中保持姿势稳定和防止跌倒至关重要。然而，肥胖如何影响行走过程中的整体角动量尚不清楚。
研究不同肥胖程度个体在行走过程中身体质心（COM）处角动量的变化。
38 名年轻成年人以他们喜欢的速度赤脚在跑步机上行走 2 分钟，根据地面反作用力和力矩数据来量化整体角动量，以捕捉肥胖个体行走时的旋转行为，而无需仅仅依靠在解剖学标志上放置标记。
我们发现，BMI 得分较高的成年人行走速度较慢，步长较短，步宽较宽，双支撑时间较长（p<.01）。BMI 得分较高的成年人的额状面和横状面角动量范围更大（p<.01），而在任何平面上，BMI 组之间整体角动量变化的总和没有差异（p>.05）。
肥胖不仅降低了行走速度，而且限制了在行走过程中控制横向稳定性的能力。研究肥胖如何影响整体角动量可能有助于更好地理解为什么肥胖成年人的步态异常、平衡能力差、存在跌倒风险因素，并促进他们参与体育活动。
