The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the differences between children aged 3, 5 and 7 in the mobility of the lumbar region of the spine, the elbow, the knee and the ankle.
The research included 90 children, 30 of each age. We measured 30 3- and 5-year-old children at a nursery in a larger Slovenian town and 30 7-year-old children at school in a larger Slovenian town. In the first part we collected data on gender and age of children, with the help of teachers, educators and enrollment papers. In the second part, measurements were taken in the school gym and in the multipurpose room in the nursery. We measured body height, body weight and mobility in the lumbar region of the spine, the elbow, the knee and the ankle (in two positions) using a goniometer. We were interested in whether gender, age, height and weight affects mobility in the measured joints. We used the Pearson correlation test fort the relationship between the variables and the analysis of variance and Games-Howell Hoc Test fort the differences between the groups.
We found that girls are more flexible than boys in the lumbar region of the spine and in the elbow. The results of the measurements also confirmed that shorter children are more flexible than taller children in the lumbar region of the spine and in the knee. We also discovered that 3-year-olds are most flexible in the lumbar region of the spine and that 7-year-olds are most flexible in the elbow and in the knee. A significant difference in flexibility was also found in lighter children, who were more flexible in the lumbar region of the spine than heavier children.
Research has shown that anthropometric characterisics (gender, age, height and weight) are associated with mobility in individual joints. The greatest correlation of anthropometric characteristics with mobility was found in the lumbar region of the spine, knee and elbow, while there were no statistically significant differences in the ankle.
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