Gait characteristics of obese children.

The gait patterns of ten obese and ten normal-weight, prepubertal children were evaluated to provide objective data for a weight status comparison. Temporal and kinematic analyses were conducted on representative gait cycles at three speeds of walking: slow, normal, and fast. Subjects were filmed by two phase locked cameras, one each in the sagittal and frontal planes, operating at a speed of 50 frames per second while the subjects traversed a 10-m walkway in one direction. Obese subjects displayed longer cycle duration (p less than .001), lower cadence (p less than .001), lower relative velocity (statures/sec, p less than .001), and longer stance period (sec, p less than .001) than normal-weight subjects at all speeds. Other temporal differences included gait asymmetry and greater stride width for the obese, all pointing to a slower, more tentative normal speed and problems encountered when walking at speeds other than normal. Greatest instability was evidenced at the slow speed of walking. Joint angle displacement data showed a largely invariant pattern among speeds for most joints studied and similar patterns for both study groups. Normal-weight subjects displayed more consistent patterns of rotation at all joints and speeds, and for the hip and knee joints, there was greater total excursion that favored increased flexion. Obese subjects displayed a more flat-footed weight acceptance period in early stance and a greater external rotation (out-toeing) of the foot at all phases of the gait cycle.