title: Grip strength performances by 5- to 19-year-olds.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: University of Maine, 5740 Lengyel Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5740, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Butterfield
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Lehnhard
authors.forename: E Michael
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Loovis
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Coladarci
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saucier
mesh_terms: 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