Pedro Ángel Latorre Román
◽
Juan Antonio Párraga Montilla
◽
Jeśús Salas Sánchez
◽
Pedro José Consuegra González
Rearfoot
strike (RFS) in children running produces impact forces that give rise to a
transient stress wave traveling through the body. It could contribute to the
development of injuries. The purpose of this study was to determine RFS
prevalence during childhood while running at a self-selected velocity in a
prospective longitudinal cohort study. A total of 175 children (68 girls), aged
6 to 14 years, participated in this study. The sample was divided into three
age groups (age in 2016): 6-8 years, 9-11 years, and 12-14 years which were analysed
three years later (2019). 2D video-based was
used to record the RFS Taking into account all samples, in
the jogging trial the prevalence of RFS (an average of both feet) was 86.9% in
2016 and 94.7% three years later; in the running trial the prevalence was 82.6
and 94.4%, respectively. In all samples a significant increase of RFS
prevalence was found in both the jogging and running trials for both feet over
three years (jogging, left foot, p=.011, right foot, p=.023; running, left
foot, p=.001, right foot, p<.001). In girls, there were no significant
differences in any conditions. In boys, a significant increase of RFS
prevalence was found after three years in both feet (p<.01) in the running
trial. This study shows that RFS prevalence in children increases
with age and the results may be used to
characterize typical running development in children population.