BODY HEIGHT AND LORDOTIC POSTURE IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

The aim of this research is to determine the relation between body height and lordotic posture in preschool children. The survey was conducted on a sample of 149 participants (78 boys and 71 girls), aged 6 years (± 6 months), of an average body height (BH) of 121.94±10.29 cm, and the body mass 23.20±4.83kg in the city of Kragujevac (Serbia). To assess lordotic posture, the Spinal Mouse was used, and all values above 30˚ were treated as disorders in the lumbar region. In determining the size of the body, the Anthropometer by Martin is used, and the participants were divided into five groups by height. The existence and size of the correlation between the investigated areas was calculated by the use of the Pearson's chi-squared test and contingency coefficient as a measure of correlation. From the total sample, lortodic posture is present in 8.05 % of the participants, and in terms of gender the incidence of poor posture is equal. Lordotic posture is most pronounced in the group of boys and girls with the BH of 123.01-127.00 cm, followed by the group of girls with a BH of 121.51-123.00 cm. The lowest incidence of lordotic posture is determined in the groups with BH over 127.01 cm, and below 119 cm. The values of the Pearson's chi-squared test indicate a statistically significant correlation between lordotic posture and body height, with a significance 0.03.