Sources | EMG patterns | Other motor landmarks |
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Most children walk independently between 11 and 15 months of age.
Young children gradually use more of the available hip flexion range and take longer steps.
The increase in step length produces an increase in the percentage of the gait cycle spent in single limb stance.
"By 4 years the inter-relationships between the time/distance parameters are fixed, though stride length and walking velocity continue to increase with increasing leg length" (Sutherland, Olshen, Biden, & Wyatt, 1988, p.64).
Between 1 and 3 years, certain "observational determinants" appear in a child's gait pattern:
The one-year-old:
The constant knee flexion owes to hip flexor tightness. Until the child can compensate for hip flexor tightness by exaggerating the lordosis and tilting the pelvis anteriorly, she must flex the knees to maintain COG over the base of support.
"...persistent absence of any of these features in a child of 2 years or older may be a highly significant pointer to pathological gait"(Sutherland, Olshen, Biden, & Wyatt, 1988, p.151).
The two year-old's single limb stance is still decreased, and the ankles do not move from DF to PF until 50 percent of the gait cycle, suggesting poor eccentric PF control.
according to Winter, Patla, Frank, & Walt (1980):
according to Judge, Ounpuu, & Davis (1996):
according to Blanke and Hageman (1989):
Sutherland, D.H., Olshen, R.A., Cooper, L., & Woo, S. (1980). The development of mature gait. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 62A, 336-353.
Blanke, D.J., & Hageman, P.A. (1989). Comparison of gait of young men and elderly men. Physical Therapy, 69, 144-148.
Hageman, P. (1995). Gait characteristics of healthy elderly: A literature review. Issues on Aging, 18, 2-14.
Judge, J.O., Ounpuu, S., Davis, R.B. 3rd. (1996). Effects of age on the biomechanics and physiology of gait. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, 12(4), 659-678.
Judge, J.O., Davis, R.B. 3rd, & Ounpuu, S. (1996). Step length reductions in advanced age: The role of ankle and hip kinetics. Journal of Gerontology (A Biological Science and Medical Science, 51(6), M303-312.
Murray, M.P., Kory, R.C., & Clarkson, B.H. (1960). Walking pattern in healthy old men. Journal of Gerontology, 24, 169-178.
Winter, D.A., Patla, A.E., Frank, J.S., & Walt, S.E. (1990). Biomechanical walking changes in the fit and healthy elderly. Physical Therapy, 70, 340-347.