Postural stability of 5-year-old girls and boys with different body heights

Abstract

BackgroundPostural stability is one of the determinants of proper body posture and a condition for developing motor abilities in every human being. The measurement of the centre of pressure (COP) location and displacement is the most common technique of postural stability assessment.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess differences in postural stability depending on sex of 5-year-old children with different body heights.MethodsA study included 435 healthy children (200 girls and 235 boys) born in 2010 whose parents gave a written consent to their participation in the project. Postural stability was assessed with the use of the dynamographic platform (Zebris FDM 1.8). The assessment of postural stability was based on COP shift parameters (sway path length of COP and average velocity of COP) and COP surface area parameters (area of the ellipse, length of ellipse in the anterior-posterior direction and length of the ellipse in the medial-lateral direction). Body height was measured with Holtein anthropometer and the obtained values were compared with percentile ranks determined by the WHO.ResultsThe analysis of the parameters describing postural stability in the examined children revealed dimorphism. For the COP shift parameters and COP surface area parameters, the level of statistical significance was recorded for girls and boys. Girls achieved lower results of these parameters than boys regardless of their body height. In the groups of normal- and tall-statured children, differences between the genders were statistically significant.ConclusionsThe present study characterised sex differences in postural stability of 5-year-old children. Sex-related differences were found during a natural stance for all COP parameters. Girls maintained a two-legged standing position with lower sway velocity and a smaller range of sway than their male counterparts. Normal- and tall-statured girls demonstrated better postural stability significantly more often than boys.

Validity and Reliability of a Tool for Accelerometric Assessment of Balance in Scholar Children

“…This finding is in line with the results of previous studies that reported better postural stability in girls compared to boys [ 25 , 28 , 29 ]. In girls, the maturation of the vestibular system and of the areas of the brain responsible for postural control takes place at an earlier age, whereas boys tackle each sensory input related to postural control separately and rely to a greater extent on somatosensory feedback [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. This explains why, in this study, there were more differences between sexes in the accelerometric evaluation tests on pads than in the tests with eyes closed.…”

Physical Activity Practice and Optimal Development of Postural Control in School Children: Are They Related?

“…However, the active boys, despite the PA practice, showed much higher accelerations than the sedentary girls in the tests of static balance. This reveals that PA has beneficial effects on the state of postural control in both boys and girls, although with lesser influence on the quality and magnitude of alignment and balancing reactions than the biological factors that are conditioned by sex (such as neurophysiological, physical, hormonal, and sexual maturational differences) [ 40 , 45 ].…”

The Role of Anthropometric Parameters on Single-Leg Balance Performance in Young Sub-Elite Soccer Players

“…On a closer inspection, the experimental protocol from the previous studies (Chiari et al, 2002;Plandowska et al, 2019), which included anthropometric parameters into the analysis, and the present study differ in some aspects that could explain the discrepancies. Plandowska et al (2019) tested bipedal postural stability of 5-year-old boys and girls. In the study from Chiari and colleagues, postural control was assessed by bipedal stance with eyes open and eyes closed in healthy and physically active adults.…”

“…The one-to-one extrapolation of the findings in bipedal stance and anthropometric parameters such as body height and body weight in healthy adults to single-leg balance performance should be considered with caution. Compared to the studies of Chiari et al (2002) and Plandowska et al (2019), it should be taken into account that in the current study a special population of successful young athletes participated. They had a lot of soccer experience including single-leg balance performance while passing and kicking the ball.…”

“…Therefore, they concluded that these parameters should be included in the experimental protocol to determine their possible influence on postural control. With a few exceptions (Chiari et al, 2002;Plandowska, Lichota, & Górniak, 2019), the majority of the studies in the field of balance performance where the researchers collected anthropometric data did not include these data in their analyses. For example, to determine performance asymmetry in leg stability, single-leg balance performance is evaluated.…”