Article

Youth who are obese have high risk of poor knee health and cartilage
damage. Understanding factors which may affect knee health in youth who are obese
is critical for preservation of knee integrity and function.
Objective: Compare
standing frontal plane knee alignment and knee loading patterns between youth who
are obese and healthy-weight and determine the association between knee alignment
and knee loading patterns during walking and jogging.
Design: Cross sectional
matched-pair. Methods: Twenty youth who were obese and 20 youth who were
healthy-weight (ages 11-18 ) were recruited. Three-dimensional motion analysis
quantified standing frontal plane knee alignment as well as frontal and sagittal
plane knee moments during walking and jogging. Paired t-tests, Multiple Analysis
of Covariance, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used for
analysis. Results: The youth who were obese demonstrated greater knee valgus in
standing ( P = 0.02), lower normalized peak external knee adduction moments
during walking ( P = 0.003), and greater normalized peak external knee extension
moments during jogging ( P = 0.003) compared to the youth who were
healthy-weight. Standing knee alignment did not correlate with knee moments in
the youth who were obese. Limitations: Results are limited to small, homogenous
cohorts. The standing alignment methodology is not validated in this population
and may limit interpretation of results. Conclusion:
Youth who are obese stand in
more knee valgus and have altered knee loading patterns during walking and
jogging compared to youth who are healthy-weight. Frontal plane knee alignment
does not correlate with frontal plane knee loading patterns in youth who are
obese. A better understanding of other mechanisms related to joint loading in
youth who are obese is necessary to maintain long-term joint integrity in this population.

Langue : ANGLAIS