Competence of coordination in lower limbs of children aged 3-6: clues from their backward walking

Since current literature does not explain how children aged 3-6 reacted when the walking direction was reversed or what its mechanism is, the aim of this study was to understand the mechanism of their ‘Neuro-musculo-skeletal' systems in the process of direction changes, as well as its coordination features. The kinematics of forward walking (FW) and backward walking (BW) of 96 subjects were measured by the Coda motion system and their Euler angles in lower limb joints were first collected. According to the coordination algorithm, the phase angle (PA) in the knee and ankle and the continuous relative phase angle (CRP) between the two joints were calculated; further the mean, standard deviation (SD) and range of data for variables of PA and CRP were contrasted between FW and BW. All the statistical models were executed under SPSS with a significance level of 0.05 and a confidence interval of 95%. The results show that children in BW first had an unstable velocity in their ankles; further, PA in both their ankles and knees were distributed in a limited range. Meanwhile the key gait events were not obtained in BW in all age groups. A similar CRP was seen between FW and BW, but a significant difference existed between the two types of gait. The majority of the mean and range of PA and CRP were recorded with significant distinctions between FW and BW in each age group. Finally, significant gender differences existed in all variables of BW in each age group. Overall, although achieving the BW was easy for preschool toddlers (aged 3-6), but their coordination in lower-limb were still in developing and further fine tuning; moreover, their clues in backwarding also tell the detail of development in the ‘Neuro-musculo-skeletal' system.