Jm. Hausdorff et al., Maturation of gait dynamics: stride-to-stride variability and its temporalorganization in children, J APP PHYSL, 86(3), 1999, pp. 1040-1047
In very young children, immature control of posture and gait results in uns
teady locomotion. In children of similar to 3 yr of age, gait appears relat
ively mature; however, it is unknown whether the dynamics of walking change
beyond this age. Because stride dynamics depend on neural control, we hypo
thesized that motor control would continue to develop beyond age 3. To test
this hypothesis, we measured the gait cycle duration on a stride-by-stride
basis in 50 healthy 3- to 14-yr-old children (25 girls). Measurements of s
tride-to-stride variability were significantly larger both in the 3- and 4-
yr-old children, compared with the 6- and 7-yr-old children, and in the 6-
and 7-yr-old children, compared with the 11- to 14-yr-old children. Measure
ments of the temporal organization of gait also revealed significant age-de
pendent changes. The effects of age persisted even after adjusting for heig
ht. These findings indicate that mature stride dynamics may not be complete
ly developed even in healthy 7-yr-old children and that different aspects o
f stride dynamics mature at different ages.