Apibantaweesakul Sudarat, Omura Shiho, Qi Weihuang, Sado Natsuki, Shiotani Hiroto, Tanaka Fumiko, Suttanon Plaiwan, Kawakami Yasuo
Graduate School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan.
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 14;20(1):e0316826. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316826. eCollection 2025.
Walking patterns can differ between children and adults, both kinematically and kinetically. However, the detailed nature of the ankle pattern has not been clarified. We investigated musculature, biomechanics, and muscle activation strategies and their relevance to walking performance in preschool (PS) and school children (SC), with adults (AD) as reference. Twenty-six PS (3-5 yr), 20 SC (6-8 yr), and 17 AD (18-30 yr) participated. Tibialis anterior (TA) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) thicknesses, fascicle lengths, and maximal voluntary dorsi- and plantar flexion isometric torques were measured. Hip, knee, and ankle kinematics, ground reaction forces (GRFs), and TA and MG electromyographic activities were recorded during shod walking at each participant's preferred speed. Walking speed, step length, and cadence were correlated with age in PS. These walking performance measures were also correlated with muscle thickness and fascicle length, showing higher speed in individuals with thicker muscles and longer TA and MG fascicles (conversely, higher cadence with thinner muscles and shorter fascicles). AD demonstrated the largest values for muscle thickness (p<0.001), fascicle length (p<0.001), strength (p<0.001), and walking performance (speed p = 0.004; step length p<0.001; cadence p<0.001), followed by SC then PS. Both PS and SC exhibited higher TA activities than AD during the stance phase, resulting in a higher co-activation index. The GRFs relative to body weight were lower in both horizontal and vertical components in PS compared to SC and AD, while the relative lateral force during stance was greatest in PS followed by SC and then AD. Differences in preferred walking speed and step length were associated with age and muscle size. Children, particularly preschool-aged, employed a co-activation strategy of dorsi- and plantar flexors for stabilization, which resulted in sideways steps even at a preferred walking speed.
儿童和成人的行走模式在运动学和动力学方面均存在差异。然而，踝关节模式的具体细节尚未明确。我们以成人为参照，对学龄前儿童（PS）和学龄儿童（SC）的肌肉组织、生物力学、肌肉激活策略及其与行走表现的相关性进行了研究。26名学龄前儿童（3至5岁）、20名学龄儿童（6至8岁）和17名成人（18至30岁）参与了研究。测量了胫骨前肌（TA）和腓肠肌内侧头（MG）的厚度、肌束长度以及最大自主背屈和跖屈等长扭矩。在每位参与者以其偏好速度穿着鞋子行走期间，记录了髋、膝和踝关节的运动学、地面反作用力（GRF）以及TA和MG的肌电图活动。学龄前儿童的行走速度、步长和步频与年龄相关。这些行走表现指标也与肌肉厚度和肌束长度相关，肌肉较厚以及TA和MG肌束较长的个体行走速度更快（反之，肌肉较薄且肌束较短的个体步频更高）。成人在肌肉厚度（p<0.001）、肌束长度（p<0.001）、力量（p<0.001）和行走表现（速度p = 0.004；步长p<0.001；步频p<0.001）方面的值最大，其次是学龄儿童，然后是学龄前儿童。在站立期，学龄前儿童和学龄儿童的TA活动均高于成人，导致共同激活指数更高。与学龄儿童和成人相比，学龄前儿童在水平和垂直分量上相对于体重的GRF均较低，而站立期的相对侧向力在学龄前儿童中最大，其次是学龄儿童，然后是成人。偏好行走速度和步长的差异与年龄和肌肉大小有关。儿童，尤其是学龄前儿童，采用背屈肌和跖屈肌的共同激活策略来保持稳定，这导致即使在偏好行走速度时也会出现侧向步。
