Changes with aging in head and center of foot pressure sway in children

To quantitate the development of equilibrium in children, we investigated movements of the head and of the center of foot pressure (COF) in standing subjects, using a cephalograph, a force measuring platform, and a technical computer. We studied 126 subjects, 105 healthy children, aged 4-18 years, and 21 adults, aged 20-28 years. Each subject stood with their feet together on a platform for 60 s each with eyes open or closed. The area and total length of head and COF movements decreased with increasing age, and were significantly greater in children under 12 years than in adults. The ratio of the lengths of head to COF movements was significantly larger in children under 9 years than in adults. The ratio of the anteroposterior to lateral movement of COF was also larger in children under 9 years. These observations suggested that body sway in children was not only larger than that in adults, but different in nature.