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How do toddlers increase their gait velocity?

Julia Looper1, Lynette S Chandler

  • 1School of Occupational and Physical Therapy, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA 98416-1070, USA. jlooper@pugetsound.edu

Gait & Posture
|October 16, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Early walking velocity increases are primarily driven by a faster step rate (cadence), not longer steps. This finding is crucial for understanding infant motor development and gait acquisition.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric gait development
  • Infant motor control
  • Biomechanics of locomotion

Background:

  • Understanding the developmental trajectory of walking is essential for identifying typical and atypical motor patterns in infants.
  • Early walking involves significant neuromotor adaptations to achieve stable and efficient locomotion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the specific kinematic components contributing to the increase in walking velocity during the initial 5 months of post-onset walking.
  • To differentiate the roles of step length and cadence in the acceleration of gait in early walkers.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study design tracking eight typically developing children.
  • Measurement of walking velocity, cadence (steps per minute), and step length at regular intervals over 5 months.
  • Normalization of kinematic data to account for body size variations.

Main Results:

  • Normalized step length remained consistent throughout the 5-month observation period.
  • Normalized cadence demonstrated a significant increase over the initial 5 months of walking experience.
  • The rise in walking velocity was predominantly correlated with the increased cadence.

Conclusions:

  • Cadence is the primary modulator of walking velocity during the early stages of gait development.
  • Infants prioritize increasing their step frequency to achieve faster walking speeds before significantly altering their step length.
  • These findings provide insights into the motor learning strategies employed during the acquisition of bipedal locomotion.

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