Association of BMI with medial longitudinal arch of foot and lateral curvature of spine in school going children

Author(s) : Rukhma Jabbar, Raheela Kousar, Farooq Islam, Asim Raza, Sadia Iftikhar, Khushboo Gulzar & Huma Basharat

Abstract:

DOI:https://doi.org/10.52587/njmhs.v5i1.62

Objective:
The purpose of this study is to find out the association of BMI with the medial longitudinal arch (MLA) of the foot, and lateral curvature of the spine in school-going children.
Material and Methods:
This cross-sectional analytical study included 385 number of schools children aged 6-15 years. Their weight status and body mass index were determined. The navicular drop test was used to evaluate the medial longitudinal arch of the foot. Both weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing circumstances were used in the test. Lateral curvature of the spine was assessed by Adam’s forward bend test. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 23.0. Frequency tables, Bar charts, and Mean ± SD were used for descriptive analysis. The p-value for the connection between variables was determined using the chi-square test.
Results:
Among 385 participated children, there were 217 normal weight children, 82 underweight, 70 overweight and 17 obese children. In determining foot arch, there were 318 number of children having normal arch, 28 with high arch, and 39 with low arch (flat foot). Low medial arch was more prevalent among children with high BMI. While determining the occurrence of lateral curvature of spine, 11 with lateral curvature of spine were found underweight, 2 normal weight, and 1 overweight out of 385 children. These results showed that children with low BMI were more likely to develop scoliosis or lateral curvature of spine. Our findings show that the association of BMI with the medial longitudinal arch of the foot, and lateral curvature of the spine in school-going children is statistically significant with the p-value<0.005. Also, there is a positive weak association of BMI with the medial longitudinal arch of the foot, and lateral curvature of the spine.
Conclusion:
This study demonstrated that BMI is found to be strongly associated with MLA of the foot, and lateral curvature of the spine in school-going children. Lower medial longitudinal foot arch (flat foot) development is more likely to occur in children who are overweight or
exhibit obesity. While children with low body mass index are more likely to develop lateral curvature of the spine (scoliosis).

Keywords: Flat foot, Medial arch, Lateral curvature, Scoliosis, BMI, MLA