Ground Reaction Forces during the Biomechanical Gait Analysis in Children

Abstract

The objective of this article was to review the aspects related to the biomechanical variables that influence human gait and to understand how the ground reaction forces act during the process of ambulation. The research was made through Scopus and Google Scholar database and the key words used were: "gait", "children", "walk" and "ground reaction forces". Gait evaluation is used in many fieldsto make diagnoses, recommend interventions and monitor their effect. Muscle recruitment, immature stride dynamics and, strategies of equilibrium control, immature sensory integration during stance, are some of various biomechanical and neural factors related to the kinetic pattern of walking in children. There are different biomechanical parameters and methodologies applied to analyze the gait pattern in children, and severalstudies have addressed medical treatments and their influence in the gait parameters. Therefore, the study of the relationshipbetween biomechanical variables and the gait maturity of the children is important to the development of new treatments and interventions in this population.