HIP STABILIZATION AND LATERAL BALANCE CONTROL IN TODDLERS DURING THE 1ST 4 MONTHS OF AUTONOMOUS WALKING

THE main purpose of the present paper was to investigate the inter-segmental coordinations between hip, shoulder and head, in toddlers, during the first four months of autonomous walking. The efficiency of locomotor balance control was examined in the frontal plane. The main result to emerge from this study is that the hip stabilization in space appears as soon as the first week of autonomous walking, while shoulder stabilization in space appears to be effective only at the second month. Finally, no preferred head stabilization, either in space or on shoulders, has appeared by the end of the fourth month. These results seem to indicate, from an early hip stabilization, an ascending progression with age of the ability to control lateral balance during locomotion.