
K. KASUGA ET AL.
regardless of the obstacle setting, the within-course walking
time was slower for 4-year-old boys than for 5 and 6-year-old
boys, and balance beam walking was slower for 5-year-old
boys than for 6-year-old boys. Demura et al., (1994) examined
age differences in line walking time using children aged 3 to 6
years old, and reported that it shortens with age. According to
Kasuga et al., (in press), the within-course walking time was
longer for 4-year-old children than for 5 and 6-year-old chil-
dren. On the other hand, Clifton (1978) reported that the bal-
an ce beam walking test score rises with age. Demura et al., (1994)
also reported in the above-stated study that balance beam
walking time shortens with age. According to Harcherik et al.,
(1982) report, balance beam walking speed tends to become
faster with age, with 4 - 5 years old group the slowest, the 6 - 8
years old group faster, and the 9 - 11 years old group fastest,
but sho wed insi gnificant dif ference betwee n the 9 - 11 y e ars old
and 12 - 14 years old age groups. Demura (1995) reported that
dynamic balance develops steadily from about 4 years old,
since balance beam walking becomes faster between the ages of
3.5 - 6.5 years old. Children who develop early can walk at
about 1 year and run at about 2 years of age. According to Aoki
et al., (2011), children over the age of 6 can step over an obsta-
cle smoothly. It is considered that in-course and balance beam
walking can both be performed faster by 5 year olds than by 4
year olds, and faster by 6 years old than by 5 years old due to
an an increase of walking frequency in addition to development
of basic movement ability with age.
On the other hand, it was confirmed that even for within-
course walking, walking time with a low obstacle (for which
difficulty is low) decreases proportionally with age, but both
within-course walking in the presence of a high obstacle and
balance beam walking (for which difficulty is high) show little
reduction in walking time after 5 years in age. Within-course
walking is an easy movement for preschool children over 3
years who can walk smoothly. Takagi (2009) reported that even
preschool children were able to perform a few movements simu-
ltaneously (for example, throw a ball while walking) through
age 6. It is inferred that they can change from simple move-
ments i.e., walking, to compound movements with relatively
high difficulty, such as stepping over an obstacle while walking.
The mean time presented above of within-course walking (no
obstacle condition) was 5.9 seconds for boys aged 4 to 4.5 years,
and 3.7 second for boys aged 6.5 to 7 years, and their time dif-
ference was about 2.2 seconds. In contrast, the mean of bal-
ance beam walking time (no obstacle condition), a high diffi-
culty task, was 17.8 seconds for boys aged 4 to 4.5 years, and
5.8 second for boys aged 6.5 to 7 years, and their time differ-
ence was 12.0 seconds. In summary, the balance beam walk-
ing times with high difficulty were about six times longer
(12.0/2.2 = 5.5) than the in-course walking times. In addition,
differences between the within-course walking times and the
balance beam walking times for each obstacle condition ranged
10.6 - 16.0 seconds for boys aged 4 to 4.5 years, but ranged
from 3.9-5.8 seconds for 5-year-olds and ranged from 1.8 - 2.7
seconds for 6-year-olds. Essentially, the difference was large
between boys aged 4 to 4.5 years and 5 to 6 years.
From the above, it is judged that when adding a balance
beam or an obstacle to the walking path, younger children are
more greatly affected than children over 5 years old. Older
children can achieve certain walking times through improving
the ability to perform compound movements in addition to
improvements in walking ability with age, even if the difficulty
of the movement task is high. Hence, it is considered that chil-
dren aged 5.5 to 6 years can even accomplish very difficult
movements such as stepping over a 10 cm obstacle or walking
on the balance beam. On the other hand, development of dy-
namic balance with age may differ according to the type and
difficulty of the test. However, this problem has not been well
examined. This study clarifies that development of walking
time in children 4 - 6 years old differs by type of test and diffi-
culty of movement tasks. We will need use tests and movement
tasks appropriate to each age level in order to evaluate dynamic
balance of preschool children.
Both the within-course walking and balance beam walking
times were slower in the following order: no obstacle (fastest),
low obstacle, and high obstacle (slowest). When stepping over
an obstacle, children must lift one foot over the obstacle (Aoki
et al., 2011). It is necessary to maintain a stable posture by
supporting one leg to lift it over a tall object.
In addition, greater exertion of dynamic balance is required
to lift one leg very high during walking (Kasuga et al., in press).
As an obstacle set on a walking course becomes higher, it takes
more time to step over, causing the contribution of dynamic
balance to become larger. Hence, it is inferred that the effect of
stepping over an obstacle while walking becomes larger as it
becomes higher for both in-course and balance beam walking.
In this study, due to subjects’ limited walking ability, a nar-
row course (10 cm width) and balance beam or an obstacle was
used. The results of this study describe that although walking
time shortens remarkably with age until 5.5 years in both walk-
ing with high obstacle and balance beam walking, it changes
little after 5.5 years old. It is thus indicated that dynamic bal-
ance related to walking develops until age 6, when children of
this age stage are able to perform plural exercise tasks simulta-
neously with comparative ease. The findings on development of
dynamic balance obtained in this study are considered to be
very useful when considering age level in teaching exercise
tasks to preschool children.
Conclusion
In conclusion, preschool children can walk faster within-
course than on a balance beam regardless of the presence of an
obstacle or their age. Development of the ability to perform
both walking tasks with age may differ.
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