Sexual dimorphism of the incidence of significant relationships between selected foot parameters and trunk parameters in children aged 7 – 13 years

Abstract

Introduction. Despite the development of alternative means of transport and consequential sedentary lifestyle, two-legged locomotion has remained important during phylogenetics. Lower limbs are still the main and ultimate means of human mobility which is transforming the mutual influences, dependencies and relationships between the features of trunk and feet.

Material and method. The study with the group of children aged 7-13 years enabled to record 16,462 observations including 8,953 girls and 7,509 with regard to the measurement of the 87 parameters describing trunk and feet. The station for an assessment of selected features using the photogrammetric method consisted of a computer, a card, software, a display monitor, a printer and a projection-reception device with a camera.

Findings

1.                  The number of foot parameters revealing significant relationships with the trunk characteristics differentiating both sexes was the same and the correlation between the examined properties was found stronger in boys. The differentiating features included parameters describing disorders of toe positioning and the longitudinal arch of feet among male adolescents and only the longitudinal arch in female subjects.

2.                  The number of trunk parameters with which the features of feet correlated most significantly was found to be bigger in male subjects than in their female counterparts. The features in boys revealed a more frequent significant relationship whereas the differentiating features were observed only in the frontal plane.