european college of sport science

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
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LOWER LIMBS COMPOSITION AND JUMPING PERFORMANCE IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH DOWN SYN-
DROME
GONZALEZ DE AGÜERO, A., VICENTE-RODRIGUEZ, G., CASAJUS, J.A.
UNIVERSITY OF ZARAGOZA
Introduction: Jump power is associated to the composition (lean, fat masses and bone masses) of lower limbs in healthy population(1).
Lower levels of strength in quadriceps and hamstring have been observed in children and adolescents with Down syndrome(2). We
aimed to elucidate whether children and adolescents with DS have impairments in jumping performance and to find the possible relationships
with lower limbs composition.
Material and methods: 30 children (17 male) with DS, mean age 14.7±3 yr. were compared with 30 healthy and without mental retardation
(MR) children, matched in age and sex. The total body lean mass and lower limbs bone mineral content (BMC), fat and lean masses
of the subjects was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The jump performance was assessed throw the height
jumped in counter movement jumps (CMJ) and Abalakov (ABA) jumps. Differences in the jumped height between groups (male and
female separately, and as a whole) were established using Student’s unpaired t test, analysis of covariance was performed to test the
differences in the upper and lower limbs lean mass using height and Tanner maturational status as covariates. Pearson’s correlations
were applied to identify the relationships between lower limbs BMC, fat and lean masses and both jumps.
Results: Significant higher CMJ and ABA jumped height was found in children without DS (p