Influence of Body Composition on Gait Kinetics throughout Pregnancy and Postpartum Period

Relationship between body composition and pulmonary function in healthy adolescents

BACKGROUND

It has been long established that body composition affects pulmonary function but little attention has been given to assessing lung function in healthy adolescents and determining the influence of body composition on these variables.

METHODS

We measured 399 boys (mean age 16.7 ± 1.2 years) and 46 girls (mean age 17.1 ± 1.2 years). We used multi-frequency segmental bioimpedance analyzer Tanita MC 980-MA Plus for body composition parameters and Micro Direct MicroGP Spirometer MS07 for spirometry parameters.

RESULTS

Mean body height was 179.5 cm and mean body mass index was 22.5 kg/m² in boys. In girls, mean body height was 166.9 cm and body mass index was 22.5 kg/m² . After adjusting for age, body height, bodyweight, and smoking status, we found a significant (P = 0.01) association (β = 0.35-0.43) between forced vital capacity and fat-free mass (FFM) or trunk fat-free mass only in boys. Similarly, body fat mass (BFM) showed significant (P = 0.01) negative association (β = -0.29 to -0.20) with spirometry parameters only in boys. In girls, the results showed a similar trend but it was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, FFM or trunk FFM is more closely related to lung capacity than BFM or trunk BFM after adjustment for confounding variables in healthy adolescent boys. Body height explained up to 23% variability of forced vital capacity and fat-free mass explained up to 27% in a linear regression model.

The Biomechanics of Pregnancy: A Systematic Review

During pregnancy, a number of biomechanical and hormonal changes occur that can alter spinal curvature, balance, and gait patterns by affecting key areas of the human body. This can greatly impact quality of life (QOL) by increasing back pain and the risk of falls. These effects are likely to be the ultimate result of a number of hormonal and biomechanical changes that occur during pregnancy. Research Question and Methodology: Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, this systematic review sets out to analyse all available literature relating to the biomechanics factors caused by pregnancy and assess how this might reduce QOL. Fifty papers were deemed eligible for inclusion in this review based on the PUBMED and SCOPUS databases. Results: Angles of lordosis and kyphosis of the spine are significantly increased by pregnancy, but not consistently across all studies. Back pain is significantly increased in pregnant women, although this is not significantly correlated with spinal changes. Increased movements of centre of pressure (COP) and increased stability indexes indicate postural control is reduced in pregnancy. Trunk range of motion, hip flexion, and extension are reduced, as well as decreased stride length, decreased gait velocity, and increased step width; again, not consistently. It is likely that each woman adopts unique techniques to minimise the effects, for example increasing step width to improve balance. Further research should focus on how altered limb kinematics during gait might affect QOL by influencing the human body, as well as assessing parameters in all planes to develop a wider understanding of pregnant biomechanical alterations.