Head-Trunk Coordination and Locomotor Equilibrium in 3-to 8-Year-Old Children

Abstract
Thirty-six healthy normal children from three to eight years of age joined in this experiment. Six age groups of six children each were formed. The subjects were asked to walk normally on flat ground on a straight line drawn on flat ground or on a beam. Each of these locomotory tasks was made twice according to pseudorandom plan, so that for a particular task, the results of two trials with each subject could be averaged. The kinematics of the locomotor movements was analyzed through an optical automatic TV image processor. Three markers were arranged on a frame fixed to the subject's left shoulder to calculate positions and orientations of the trunk. The last marker was placed on the ankle joint in order to monitor stepping.