The influence of gender and somatotype on single-leg upright standing postural stability in children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of gender and somatotypes on single-leg upright standing postural stability in children. A total of 709 healthy children from different schools were recruited to measure the anthropometric somatotypes and the mean radius of center of pressur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of applied biomechanics Vol. 23; no. 3; p. 173
Main Authors Lee, Alex J Y, Lin, Wei-Hsiu
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.08.2007
Subjects
Anthropometry - methods
Body Size - physiology
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Movement - physiology
Postural Balance - physiology
Posture - physiology
Sex Distribution
Sex Factors
Taiwan
Taiwan
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of gender and somatotypes on single-leg upright standing postural stability in children. A total of 709 healthy children from different schools were recruited to measure the anthropometric somatotypes and the mean radius of center of pressure (COP) on a force platform with their eyes open and eyes closed. The results were that (a) girls revealed significantly smaller mean radius of COP distribution than boys, both in the eyes open and eyes closed conditions, and (b) the mesomorphic, muscular children had significantly smaller mean radius of COP distribution than the endomorphic, fatty children and the ectomorphic, linear children during the eyes closed condition. The explanation for gender differences might be due to the larger body weight in boys. The explanation for somatotype differences might be due to the significantly lower body height and higher portion of muscular profile in the mesomorphic children.
ISSN:1065-8483
DOI:10.1123/jab.23.3.173