Prevalencia de alteraciones posturales en niños de Arica - Chile. Efectos de un programa de mejoramiento de la postura

At present the educational institutions do not have an adequate system of Health to detect early changes in postural alteration in children. The aim of this study was to determine the most common postural changes in a sample of 120 students (10,4% of total universe), of 4 years old from Arica-Chile and to determine the effect of a program to improve the posture. The prevalence of the most frequent postural alterations relate to: inclination of shoulders (86%), winged scapula and descend scapula (82%), projection front shoulders (79%), flat feet (58%), lumbar hyperlordosis (51%) and inclination of head (50%). Subsequently in the experimental group was applied a program of exercise muscle and postural reeducation for a period of 8 months. At the end of treatment was applied a post-test to all children. The results in the experimental group showed a significant decrease in initial prevalence rates in all alterations. The differential recovery shows significant differences among the study groups, with 31% for inclination of shoulders, followed by lumbar hyperlordosis (29%) and inclination of head (20%). The recoverability lowest level was observed in flat feet with 7% (p≤0,05).The high percentage of postural disturbances in children aged 4 years in the city of Arica, could be the result of vicious attitudes that in the future produce an improper structuring of the body. Then the implementation of a program of exercise muscles and postural reeducation, led by a multiprofesional health team, decline rates of postural abnormalities present in children.