Joint kinematics and SPM analysis of gait in children with and without Down syndrome.

Background: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) walk with altered gait patterns compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. While walking at faster speeds and with external ankle load, preadolescents with DS demonstrate spatiotemporal and kinetic improvements. However, evidence of joint kinematic adjustments is unknown, which is imperative for targeted rehabilitation design.

Dynamic gait stability in children with and without Down syndrome during overground walking.

Background: Challenging children with Down syndrome to walk fast and with external ankle load has demonstrated acute adjustments, such as increased step length and decreased step width, and improved joint stability. However, it is unknown to what extent these task constraints affect gait stability. Assessing dynamic gait stability through margin-of-stability not only quantifies adjustments related to balance control, but also informs safety considerations.

Parental perceptions of nutritional intake, cooking skills, and food skills among preschoolers.

To determine parents' perceptions of cooking skills, food skills, and nutritional status of children ages 3 to 5 years. Parents of preschoolers aged 3 to 5 years completed two questionnaires, a Nutri-STEP questionnaire, assessing nutritional status, and a cooking exposure questionnaire. This parent recall questionnaire assessed cooking skills and food skills children possessed.

Self-directed kinematic adjustments when learning the kettlebell swing in young adults.

The kettlebell swing is a complex exercise shown to provide cardiovascular and strength benefits. However, novice kinematic pattern differences might limit the effectiveness of the kettlebell swing to fully realise those benefits. The purpose of this study was to assess how novices self-directed their learning of the kettlebell swing using only an instructional video.

Lower Limb Joint Functions during Single-Leg Hopping in-Place in Children and Adults.

Children often display different whole-body dynamics compared to adults during locomotion such as walking and hopping. However, it is unknown whether these differences result in diverging functional usage of the lower limb joints. This study aimed to compare the mechanical functions of the ankle, knee, and hip joints between children and adults during single-leg hopping in-place at different frequencies.

Muscle activation pattern during two-legged hopping in children with and without down syndrome.

This study aimed to characterize muscle activation and its variability during two-legged hopping in children with and without Down syndrome (DS). Seventeen typically developing (TD) children and 15 children with DS were recruited. As only 6 children with DS (4F/2M, 9.

Coordination dynamics of hopping on a mini-trampoline in adults and children.

Background: While mini-trampolines have been used among a variety of groups including children as an intervention tool, the motor behavior children adopt while hopping on this soft, elastic surface is unknown. Identifying coordinative structures and their stability for hopping on a mini-trampoline is imperative for recommending future interventions and determining appropriateness to populations with motor dysfunctions.

Research Question: Do children demonstrate similar biomechanical and coordination patterns as adults while hopping on a mini-trampoline?

Methods: Fifteen adults aged 18-35 years and 14 children aged 7-12 years completed bouts of continuous two-legged hopping in-place on a stiff surface for 10 s at a time and on a mini-trampoline for 30 s at a time.

Acute effect of whole-body vibration on acceleration transmission and jumping performance in children.

Background: Whole-body vibration (WBV) has emerged as a potential intervention paradigm for improving motor function and bone growth in children with disabilities. However, most evidence comes from adult studies. It is critical to understand the mechanisms of children with and without disabilities responding to different WBV conditions.

Spring-like leg dynamics and neuromuscular strategies for hopping on a mini-trampoline in adults and children.

Improved balance control is an often-cited potential benefit for trampoline interventions. However, it is unknown whether the soft, elastic surface of a trampoline elicits different motion and neuromuscular strategies between adults and children. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the center-of-mass (COM) dynamics and neuromuscular strategies for hopping on a mini-trampoline in adults and children.

The patterning of local variability during the acquisition of a novel whole-body continuous motor skill in young adults.

There is increasing evidence that movement variability during motor skill acquisition plays a functional role. Specifically, initial variability might represent exploration of the possible motor space for solutions and error identification. Following practice, individuals might exploit a reduced amount of motor solutions to execute the task.

Improvement in Overground Walking After Treadmill-Based Gait Training in a Child With Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum.

Background: Agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is a rare congenital brain defect that produces a wide variety of cognitive and motor impairments. Literature regarding the response of pediatric populations with ACC to physical rehabilitation is scarce. Treadmill-based gait training (TT) has been shown to improve walking ability in some pediatric populations but has not been investigated in children with ACC.

Neuromechanical control of leg length and orientation in children and adults during single-leg hopping.

Adult-like fine control of cyclical motor patterns found in locomotion develops into adolescence. Single-leg hopping in place is one such motor pattern where children have demonstrated a reduced capacity to control horizontal motion and match metronome cues. These developmental differences might arise from immature inter-segment coordination strategies and variability regulation.

Biomechanical analysis of the timed up-and-go (TUG) test in children with and without Down syndrome.

Background: The timed up-and-go (TUG) test consists of multiple functional activities of daily living performed in a sequence, with the goal to complete the test as quickly as possible. Considering children with Down syndrome (DS) have been shown to take longer to complete the TUG test, it is imperative to identify which tasks are problematic for this population in order to individualize physical interventions.

Research Question: Is the biomechanical pattern of each functional task during the TUG test different between children with DS and typically developing (TD) children?

Methods: Thirteen children with DS and thirteen TD children aged 5-11 years old completed the TUG test.

Variability of spatiotemporal gait parameters in children with and without Down syndrome during treadmill walking.

Background: Increasing walking speed and including bilateral external ankle load have been shown to improve aspects of the gait pattern of children with Down syndrome (DS). However, it is unknown if speed and ankle load improves the cycle-to-cycle variability in a similar way.

Research Question: How do changes of walking speed and external ankle load impact spatiotemporal variability during treadmill walking in children with and without DS?

Methods: Thirteen children with DS (aged 7-10 years) and thirteen age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) children participated in this study.

Vertical stiffness and balance control of two-legged hopping in-place in children with and without Down syndrome.

Background: Children with Down syndrome (DS) are known for their reduced balance control, and typically take longer to develop motor skills and display less coordinated movement patterns. Hopping in-place is a gross motor skill requiring whole-body vertical stiffness and horizontal movement control, particularly when attempting to modify hopping frequency. However, there is a lack of knowledge of the hopping capacity of children with DS.

Comparison of whole-body vertical stiffness and leg stiffness during single-leg hopping in place in children and adults.

In the hopping literature, whole-body vertical stiffness and leg stiffness are used interchangeably, due to most of the movement occurring in the vertical direction. However, there is some anterior/posterior movement of the center of mass and displacements of the foot during hopping in place in both children and adults. Further it is not understood if leg stiffness show a similar pattern as whole-body vertical stiffness when increasing hopping frequency.

Effect of whole-body vibration on center-of-mass movement during standing in children and young adults.

Whole body vibration (WBV) can affect postural control and muscular activation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the center-of-mass (COM) movement of children and young adults before, during, immediately after, and 5min after 40-s WBV in quiet standing. Fourteen young adults (mean age 24.

Vertical stiffness and center-of-mass movement in children and adults during single-leg hopping.

Single-leg hopping in-place can be typically modeled using a spring-mass model. Within this model, the leg acts as a spring whose stiffness can be regulated to hop at different heights and frequencies. The control of vertical stiffness has been shown to be important for running and jumping performance, as well as injury prevention.

Children Display Adult-Like Kinetic Patterns in the Time Domain, But Not in the Frequency Domain, While Walking With Ankle Load.

This study used both time and frequency domain analyses to investigate walking patterns with ankle load in children and adults. Twenty-two children aged 7-10 years and 20 young adults participated in this study. Three levels of ankle load were manipulated: no load, low load (2% of body mass on each side), and high load (4% of body mass on each side).

Walking dynamics in preadolescents with and without Down syndrome.

Background: A force-driven harmonic oscillator (FDHO) model reveals the elastic property of general muscular activity during walking.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether children with Down syndrome (DS) have a lower K/G ratio, a primary variable derived from the FDHO model, compared with children with typical development during overground and treadmill walking and whether children with DS can adapt the K/G ratio to walking speeds, external ankle load, and a treadmill setting.

Design: A cross-sectional study design was used that included 26 children with and without DS, aged 7 to 10 years, for overground walking and 20 of them for treadmill walking in a laboratory setting.

Frequency domain analysis of ground reaction force in preadolescents with and without Down syndrome.

Children with Down syndrome (DS) display less stable and coordinated gait patterns in the time domain than their healthy peers. However, little is known about whether this group difference exists in the frequency domain. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in vertical ground reaction force (GRF) in the frequency domain between preadolescents with and without DS.