Energy expenditure associated with walking speed and angle of turn in children

Recent studies have suggested that turning is power intensive. Given the sporadic and irregular movement patterns of children, such findings have important implications for the assessment of true energy expenditure associated with habitual physical activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of walking speed and angle, and their interaction, on the energy expenditure of healthy children.

20 children (10.1 ± 0.5 years; 10 boys) participated in the study. On two separate days, participants completed a turning protocol involving 3-min bouts of walking at one of the 16 speed (2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 km h^- 1) and angle (0°, 45°, 90°, and 180°) combinations, interspersed by 3 min seated rest. The movement involved 5 m straight walking interspaced with prescribed turns with speed dictated by a digital, auditory metronome. Breath-by-breath gas exchange was measured, in addition to tri-axial acceleration and magnetic field intensity recorded at 100 Hz.

Mixed models revealed a significant main effect for speed (p < 0.006) and angle (p < 0.006), with no significant interaction between speed and angle (p > 0.006). Significant differences to straight-line walking energy expenditure within speed were established for 3.5 and 5.5 km h^- 1 for 180° turns (~ 13% and ~ 30% increase, respectively).

These findings highlight the importance of accounting for the magnitude and frequency of turns completed when estimating children's habitual physical activity and have significant implications for the assessment of daily energy expenditure.