The Influence of Gender and Somatotype on Single-Leg Upright Standing Postural Stability in Children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of gender and somatotypes on single-leg upright standing postural stability in children. A total of 709 healthy children from different schools were recruited to measure the anthropometric somatotypes and the mean radius of center of pressure (COP) on a force platform with their eyes open and eyes closed. The results were that (a) girls revealed signifi-cantly smaller mean radius of COP distribution than boys, both in the eyes open and eyes closed conditions, and (b) the mesomorphic, muscular children had significantly smaller mean radius of COP distribution than the endomorphic, fatty children and the ectomorphic, linear children during the eyes closed condition. The explana-tion for gender differences might be due to the larger body weight in boys. The explanation for somatotype differences might be due to the significantly lower body height and higher portion of muscular profile in the mesomorphic children. Key Words: body type, postural balance, static balance, upright stance Postural stability has been defined as the abil-ity to maintain an upright posture and to keep the center of gravity (COG) within the limits of the bas