ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE The main objective of this work is to study the influence of adipose mass on postural control and gait in overweight and obese children. As well as to be able to determine the differences in the postural control that exist between these and the normopeso children (without overweight or obesity). METHODOLOGY Three studies were carried out with a group of subjects about 12 years of age. In turn, this was divided into two groups: with obesity or overweight and without obesity or overweight. The corporal weight was measured with a platform of forces (Dinascan / IBV, Biomechanical Institute of Valencia, Valencia, Spain) and the height with a stadimeter. The group with obesity was also measured body composition by a Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Hologic Discovery Wi, Hologic Inc., Bedford, MA, USA) and the data were obtained by paediatric software (QDR v.12.3, Hologic Inc., Bedford, MA, USA). All subjects performed trials on a platform of forces: 1. Bipedal standing position with your eyes open for 30 seconds (2 times). 2. Bipedal standing position with your eyes closed for 30 seconds (2 times). 3. Walk from one corner of the structure of the force platform to the other corner (3.5 x 1.5 m). Each subject performed blocks of 20 repetitions until 5 steps of each foot were correctly completed on the platform of forces. Subsequently, a pre-processing of the signals was carried out using Matlab R2013a and various statistical analyses with the software SPSS 17. For each study, variables were used and different statistical analyses were applied. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS STUDY 1 The results of this study revealed significant differences between the children with and without obesity in the mean velocity, the ellipse area and the mean distance, in all the trials. The latter obtained lower values than the former in all these variables. These results explain that children with obesity show alterations in intermittent postural control. Thus, the active anticipatory control produces responses with a greater range of movement of the center of pressures and, the periods in which the balance and the reflex mechanisms maintain the stable posture through passive control are of shorter duration. STUDY 2 The regression model of the impact force is positively related to the corporal weight of obese children and negatively to lean mass. The model also showed that lean mass is positively related to the rate of development of propulsion. Therefore, it would be beneficial, not only to reduce weight but also, to increase the ratio between lean mass and fat mass in people with obesity. STUDY 3 The results of this study showed the height and mass of the legs were the variables of body composition that showed the highest correlation with postural control. In addition, multiple linear models showed that the distribution of different tissues in the various regions of the body are also important for predicting postural control of overweight and obese children. Specifically, the mass of the trunk and legs are the best predictors of body composition for postural control in children.
