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Background: The ability to walk is crucial for maintaining independence and a high quality of life among older adults. Although gait characteristics have been extensively studied in older adults, most studies have investigated muscle activity in the joints of the trunk or the lower limbs without assessing their coordinated interactions. Thus, the causes of altered trunk and lower limb coordination patterns and gait changes among older adults remain unknown. Therefore, this study compared the joint kinematic parameters of both the trunk and lower limbs of young versus older adults to identified key factors leading to changes in gait among older adults. Methods: In total, 64 older (32 males, aged 68.34 ± 7.38 years; 32 females, aged 67.16 ± 6.66 years) and 64 young (32 males, aged 19.44 ± 0.84 years; 32 females, aged 19.69 ± 0.86 years) healthy adults participated in this study. The range of motion (ROM) of the thorax, pelvis, and trunk in the horizontal plane and of the hip, knee, and ankle joints of the lower limbs in the sagittal plane were measured using a motion capture system with wearable sensors. Two-way analysis of variance assessed differences in ROM by age, sex, and basic gait parameters; Pearson correlation analysis assessed the coordinated patterns of the trunk and lower limbs, identifying key factors leading to gait changes in older adults. Results: Gait length, speed, and stride in young adults were greater (p < 0.001) than those in older adults, but older women displayed the fastest stride speed (p < 0.05). ROM values for the pelvis, thorax, trunk, knee joint, and ankle joint of young adults were greater (p < 0.05) than those in older adults. However, hip ROM in older adults was significantly greater than that in young adults (p < 0.05). Conclusion: With increasing age, ROM of the lower limbs, especially the ankle joint, decreased significantly, resulting in a significant decrease in gait speed. As ROM of the pelvis decreased, stride decreased significantly in older adults, who compensate through thoracic rotation. Thus, older adults should enhance muscle strength and increase ROM to improve gait patterns and quality of life.

Aim The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the influence of long-term participating in amateur sports on body posture of school students. Methods A survey on sport participation was conducted on 1,658 volunteer students aged from 6 to 17 years in two primary schools and one meddle school in Tianjin city. The PA200LE body posture evaluation system and a SpineScanSH-115 electronic spine measuring instrument were used to assess the participants’ body posture. According to the survey results and against the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 1,124 eligible participants were divided into seven sport participation groups and seven age-matched control groups for statistical comparisons. Results Compared with the age-matched controls, the natural standing thoracic kyphosis angle of the swimming group (35.0 ± 9.5 VS 31.2 ± 8.5; t =  − 2.560; p = 0.011) and the football group (34.6 ± 7.2 VS 31.9 ± 7.5; t =  − 2.754; p = 0.006) were found to be significantly larger; the natural standing lumbar lordosis angle (−23.0 ± 11.0 VS −27.0 ± 11.1; t = 0.344; p = 0.024) and the upright sitting lumbar lordosis angle (−11.7 ± 8.4 VS −15.2 ± 12.3; t = 5.738; p = 0.030) of the swimming group was significantly smaller; the upright sitting thoracic kyphosis angle of the running group (25.1 ± 9.3 VS 22.6 ± 9.9; t =  − 1.970; p = 0.050) was significantly larger; the upright sitting thoracic kyphosis angle (23.9 ± 8.9 VS 27.0 ± 7.6; t = 2.096; p = 0.038), the learning position thoracic kyphosis angle (31.0 ± 8.6 VS 37.1 ± 8.9; t = 3.076; p = 0.003), the shoulder level (−1.3 ± 2.1 VS 0.0 ± 2.5; t = 2.389; p = 0.019) and waist level (−1.2 ± 1.7 VS −0.3 ± 1.7; t = 2.511; p = 0.013) of the table tennis group were significantly smaller. Conclusions The results showed that long-term participation in recreational sports training had an impact on the physical posture of adolescents.

Background The ability to walk is crucial for maintaining independence and a high quality of life among older adults. Although gait characteristics have been extensively studied in older adults, most studies have investigated muscle activity in the joints of the trunk or the lower limbs without assessing their interactions. Thus, the causes of altered trunk and lower limb movement patterns in older adults remain to explore. Therefore, this study compared the joint kinematic parameters of both trunk and lower limbs between young and older adults to identify kinematic factors associated with changes in gait among older adults. Methods In total, 64 older (32 males, aged 68.34 ± 7.38 years; 32 females, aged 67.16 ± 6.66 years) and 64 young (32 males, aged 19.44 ± 0.84 years; 32 females, aged 19.69 ± 0.86 years) healthy adults participated in this study. The range of motion (ROM) of the thorax, pelvis, and trunk in the horizontal plane and of the hip, knee, and ankle joints of the lower limbs in the sagittal plane were measured using a motion capture system with wearable sensors. Two-way analysis of variance assessed differences in ROM by group, sex, and spatio-temporal gait parameters; Pearson correlation analysis assessed the correlation of the trunk and lower limbs. Results Step length, gait speed, and stride length were greater in young adults (p < 0.001) than in older adults, but older women displayed the fastest gait speed (p < 0.05). ROM values for the pelvis, thorax, trunk, knee joint, and ankle joint of young adults were greater (p < 0.05) than those in older adults. However, hip ROM in older adults was significantly greater than that in young adults (p < 0.05). Conclusion With increasing age, ROM of the lower limbs, especially the ankle joint, decreased significantly, resulting in a significant decrease in gait speed. As ROM of the pelvis decreased, stride length decreased significantly in older adults, who compensate through thoracic rotation. Thus, older adults should enhance muscle strength and increase ROM to improve gait patterns.

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