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<H3><A NAME="SECTION00040300000000000000">Relationship of Stride Dynamics to Height</A></H3>
<P>
In children, many aspects of gait depend on body size. For example, over
certain age ranges, stride length increases linearly with age, but
the relationship between stride length and age becomes constant after
adjusting for height or leg length (2).
Similarly, we observed a significant increase (p
< .0001) in velocity in the 6 and 7 year old children (1.20 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png">
0.03 m/sec) compared to the 3 and 4 year old children (1.00 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 0.03
m/sec). However, relative velocity (velocity/height) was
essentially identical in these two groups (p = 0.92).
To begin to
evaluate whether the changes in stride dynamics were only a function
of changes in biomechanics related to growth, we normalized the dynamical
measures with respect to height. In the present study, height
increased linearly with age (r = 0.96; p < .0001).
Variability is inversely related to age (Figure 3). Thus, we
normalized the dynamical variables (either by appropriately dividing
or multiplying by height) and re-examined the relationship with
age. The age-dependence persisted when
the measures of variability and dynamics were adjusted for height
or if leg length was used instead of height as the normalizing factor.
For example, the CV normalized with respect to leg length
was 128 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 10, 83 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 5, and 67 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 3 in the 3 and 4 year olds, 6 and 7 year olds,
and in the 11 to 14 year olds, respectively.
The difference between the 6 and 7 year olds and the 11 to 14 year olds was significant (p < .05). The CV in the 3 and 4 year old was significantly
increased
(p < .0005) compared to both older groups.
<P>
Finally, we note that consistent with previous findings (26)
the average values of stride time and walking velocity were age-dependent.
Mean stride time was 900 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 14 msec in the 3 and 4 year olds,
increased (p < .01) to 955 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 12 msec in the 6 and 7 year olds, and
increased further (p < .0001 ) in the 11 to 14 year olds (1072 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 18
msec). Walking velocity was 1.00 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 0.03 m/sec in the 3 and 4 year
olds, 1.20 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png"> 0.03 m/sec in the 6 and 7 year olds, and 1.28 <IMG WIDTH=12 HEIGHT=27 ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="tex2html_wrap_inline288" SRC="img6.png">
.0.03 m/sec in the 11 to 14 year olds. The difference between the
youngest and two older groups was significant (p < .0001); however, walking velocity
was not significantly different in the 6 and 7 year olds and the 11 to
14 year olds.
<P>
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