Prevalence of Lower Limb Defects in Children in Chosen Kindergartens of the Łódź Agglomeration

Posture disorders not treated in early childhood may lead to serious diseases and dysfunctions later. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of lower limb defects in pre-school children.

The study covered 513 children (252 girls and 261 boys) aged 4-6, in chosen kinder-gartens of the Łódź agglomeration . The child's body posture was assessed using a visual method based on the Kasperczyk scoring scale in own modification.

Foot defects occurred in the examined group with a frequency of 85.58% (439/513): in 4-year-olds: 82.59%, in 5- and 6-year-olds: 87.5%. Foot defects were more common in girls in the entire study group (86.9 vs. 84.29%), in 4-year-olds (87.88 vs. 77.45%) and 6-year-olds (88.89 vs. 86.25%), and in boys in the 5-year-olds group (91.14 vs. 83.95%). Defects of the knee joints, including varus and valgus knee, occurred in the study group with a frequency of 52.83% (271/513): in 4-year-olds: 56.72%, in 5-year-olds: 45.63% and in 6-year-olds: 55.26%. Defects were more frequent in girls in the entire study group (54.37 vs. 51.34) and in 4-year-olds (58.59 vs. 54.90%), and in boys in the 5-year-old group (50.63 vs. 40.74%). In the 6-year-olds group, the defects were statistically significantly more common in girls than boys (63.89 vs. 47.5%, p = 0.0442).

A high percentage of lower limb defects rate at more than half of the examined pre-school children population is disturbing and requires effective systemic action.