Katarzyna Sołtysiak, Natalia Kociuga

K. Sołtysiak, N. Kociuga – Assessment of Body Posture in Children of Kindergarten Age. FP 2017; 17(2); 82-99

Abstract

Study Goal. The goals of this study are: to examine body posture in children of kindergarten age in two ages groups (4 and 5 years), assess the range of motion of the shoulder and hip joints, as well as that of tensile strength of certain postural muscles.
Materials and methods. The sample size for this study consisted of 28 girls and 22 boys (n = 50).
This study was conducted in accordance with guidelines set by the Bioethical Commission of the Medical University of Łódź. Each subject was asked to disrobe to his/her undergarments and stand upright in a comfortable position. The assessment of his/her posture was performed based on both visual observation from a distance of 2 m and by palpation. Kasperczyk’s Protocol as well as the Dega, Thomas, and pseudo-Laseque’s tests were utilized in each assessment. In addition, the body mass and height of each subject was measured. Lovette’s test was utilized in the assessment of strength of the gluteus muscles and the rectus abdominis.
Results. No statistically significant corelation was found in this study between gender and age, however a statistically significant corelation was found between abdominal posture and gender: a flat abdomen was found in 22.73% of boys, but in none of the girls, in this study. An important contrast was found when comparing test subjects based on age in the assessment of body mass: older children were heavier and taller. In terms of the corelation between the Dega test results and age, the results were significant: there were far fewer cases of negative results in children aged 5 years.
Conclusions. 1. Body posture in children of kindergarten age varies greatly for each individual. 2. Lordotic postures or varus/valgus knees, frequently observed in children at this age, are normal variants of ontogenetic development. 3. Results of Lovette’s test indicate good, if not very good, strength of the gluteus maximus and rectus abdominis muscles. 4. Results of Dega, Thomas, and pseudo-Laseque’s tests indicate frequent contractions of the muscles of the shoulder and hip joints. 5.In children aged 4-5 years, improper arching of the feet is frequently evident. 6. The occurrence of abnormalities in body posture occurs in many children of kindergarten age is an indication of the need for corrective treatment to be implemented as early as possible, so as to avoid the permanent fixation of these abnormalities later in life.

Key words:
Body Posture, children, assess the range of motion, postural muscles