Características biomecânicas dos pés durante a marcha de crianças tipícas e com síndrome de Down

Abstract

The developmental evaluation in children s feet between the age of two and six years-old may be one of Health Professionals duty in a pre-school. In this age the more important changes in children s feet occur and it may be important to identify dysfunctions that require intervention as soon as possible. Thus the purpose of this study was to evaluate the static structure and dynamic function of pre-school children s feet in order to classify them according to a reference profile. Twenty five healthy children (mean age of 3.4 ± 0.65 years) had their feet anthropometry measured to classify the static foot structure and plantar pressures measured with a platform to evaluate dynamic foot function. The results evidenced that our children showed increased arch índex, midfoot width and peak pressure over the midfoot and decreased force-time integral for the forefoot, compared to a reference study. Thus, our results suggest that our children in some aspects present foot structure and function not as developed as expected for their age.