Gender and Age Differences in Toe Muscle Strength in Childhood and the Relationship between Toe Muscle Strength and Basic Motor Skills

Sakiko UKITA^{1, 2,} and Kaoru TSUYAMA³

¹Doctoral Degree Program, Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan

²College of Education, Kanto Gakuin University, Kanagawa Japan

³Faculty of Sport Science, Nippon Sport Science University, Kanagawa Japan

Cite this paper

Sakiko UKITA and Kaoru TSUYAMA. Gender and Age Differences in Toe Muscle Strength in Childhood and the Relationship between Toe Muscle Strength and Basic Motor Skills. American Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2017; 5(3):48-52. doi: 10.12691/AJSSM-5-3-2

Abstract

In this study, we examined gender differences and age-related changes in toe muscle strength in childhood as well as the relationship between toe muscle strength and basic motor skills. The subjects included 288 children aged between 6 and 10 years who were enrolled in elementary school. Measurements were conducted for toe muscle strength, long-distance throw, 50 m running time, and standing long jump distance. Toe muscle strength develops with age throughout childhood; no differences were observed in toe muscle strength between girls and boys; however, a significant correlation was observed between toe muscle strength and each of long-distance throw, 50 m running time, and standing long jump distance. There was also a significant partial correlation (eliminating the influence of age) between toe muscle strength and long-throw distance, 50 m running time, and standing long-jump distance for both boys and girls. The results indicate that toe muscle strength tends to develop with age, but there are no gender differences. Results also suggested that toe muscle strength is significantly related to basic motor skills.

Keywords

toe muscle strength, childhood, motor skills

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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