Grip strength performances by 5- to 19-year-olds.
Accurate measures of muscular strength can yield insights about children's growth and development. The purpose of this study was to examine grip strength performances by boys and girls ages 5 to 19 years. A Jamar dynamometer was used to measure grip strength by 736 boys and girls ages 5 to 19 years. Multiple regression equations were applied to analyze the data. Overall, age-sex trends were similar to previous reports as boys and girls increased their performances across age levels. After age 12, boys' mean grip strength increased at a faster rate than girls'. However, participants in the present study performed better in the upper age ranges (13-19 yr.) than did boys and girls tested a generation ago. Potential associations between activity choices and grip strength are discussed.
Butterfield
Stephen A
SA
University of Maine, 5740 Lengyel Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5740, USA.
Lehnhard
Robert A
RA
Loovis
E Michael
EM
Coladarci
Theodore
T
Saucier
Dorothy
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult