title: Influence of obesity and gender on the postural stability during upright stance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the influence of BMI group (lean/overweight/obese) and gender on the postural sway of adults and adolescents during quiet upright stance.
  
  
  METHODS
  90 women and 90 men, aged 12 to 67 years old, accepted to participate. The center of pressure during quiet upright stance was recorded using a force platform, during 4 conditions (eyes open/closed on hard/soft surface). Statistical analysis was performed using multivariate analysis of covariance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During recordings on hard surface, closing the eyes produced a larger increase of sway on obese subjects than on lean and overweight subjects, with a larger increase on the length and the area of sway. Although gender differences were found during the four sensory conditions, no interaction was observed between the BMI group and the gender. These results were not related to the age of the subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared to non-obese subjects, the postural stability of obese subjects may be more vulnerable when vision is not available, with no influence of the gender.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Investigación Médica en Otoneurología, México D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Nora S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Cruz-Gómez
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Plascencia
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Villanueva-Padrón
authors.forename: Kathrine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jáuregui-Renaud
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050177:Overweight; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture; D011312:Pressure; D012737:Sex Factors; D013499:Surface Properties; D013851:Thinness; D014785:Vision, Ocular; D055815:Young Adult