Abstract
The performance of postural control is believed to be linked to how children use available sensory stimuli to produce adequate muscular activation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to thoroughly explore postural stability under normal conditions and without visual information in postural control in children aged 6–12 years during static single-leg support. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 316 children (girls = 158). The analyzed variables were the mean and maximum values obtained in each of the three body axes and their root mean square during two static single-leg support tests: one with eyes open and one with eyes closed. Girls showed lower magnitudes in the recorded accelerations at all ages and in all the variables of both tests. Accelerations during the tests showed progressively lower values from 6 to 12 years of age. The sex had a significant influence on the magnitude obtained in the accelerations recorded during the tests. Improvements in balance with increasing age were greater with visual information than without visual information. The tests of single-leg support showed preferential sensorimotor strategies in boys and girls: boys tend to rely more on visual inputs, and girls process somesthetic information in a preferential way.
Highlights
Balance and coordination alterations in children can affect their academic performance, delay their social development and reduce their self-perceived levels of general well-being and self-esteem [1]
Because accelerometers are low-cost quantitative instruments, they were chosen as the evaluation instrument in this research, with the aim that the results presented here can be reproducible, compared and more useful than if they came from less accessible instruments
The obtained results indicate that visual information had a significant influence on balance control in single-leg support stance, influence varied throughout the 7 years of the age range studied and between the two sexes, which is in line with the findings reported by Verbeque et al [27], who analyzed the influence of vision in the existing literature
Summary
Balance and coordination alterations in children can affect their academic performance, delay their social development and reduce their self-perceived levels of general well-being and self-esteem [1]. 7 and 8 years have been identified as ages of profound changes [7] These PC strategies are characterized by the refinement in the processing of somatosensory, visual and proprioceptive information [8,9] and the optimization of the coordination of movements along the spine [6,10,11]. This physical capacity is one of the least studied in the clinical and academic scope regarding children [12,13]. This is partly due to the fact that the evaluation of PC includes the assessment of different components and aptitudes, such as postural stability; coordination; muscular strength; center of mass control; anticipatory and reactive neuromuscular reactions; motor control; the correct reception of proprioceptive, visual and vestibular stimuli; and, the correct processing and management of all these signals in the central nervous system for the development of efficient motor responses [11,14,15,16]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
