Postural assessment of lower limbs among 7 through 10 year-old obese children

Abstract

Obesity is a common chronic disease which can be defined by an excessive deposit of fat and corporal mass, that affects health and life
expectancy. Excess of fat and overweight are accompanying even more
secondary chronic-degenerative disorders. Although there are many
researches about obesity and its consequences, there is too little available
examining the biomechanical point of view. According to this context, a
postural assessment of lower limbs in obese children is important to
distinguish the physiological alterations of development from pathological
ones. Besides, it contributes to a better comprehension of postural alterations in obese children. The purpose of this study was to describe the lower limbs posture in obese children comparing to normal weight children. This project assessed 79 children, 37 obese and 42 normal weight children, from 7 to 10 years old. Marques methods were used to describe knee and ankle posture. To analyze the longitudinal medial arch, we used Staheli´s methods. Comparing obese to normal weight children, significant differences were observed about the Q angle, the ankle angle and the index of longitudinal medial arch. In addition, significant differences were observed in the incidence of the knees patterns posture, the ankle and the longitudinal medial arch among different groups. The differences observed can be possibly related to the position of the center of gravity in obese children and with the corporal adaptation to this alteration.