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Biomechanics of Basic Activities

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Disabling Obesity

Abstract

As excess weight is able to influence the biomechanics of several activities of daily living (walking, standing up, bending, and other movements) causing functional limitations, and possibly predisposing to injury, the quantitative analysis of movement appears a very important tool for the definition of the functional profile in the obese population to then plan appropriate rehabilitation interventions. Three-dimensional motion analysis is a powerful tool for quantitative assessment of movement in patients with movement disorders, including obese patients. In this chapter the applications of quantitative movement analysis in obese individuals are illustrated and reviewed and the experience of a motion analysis laboratory, which routinely applies the quantitative evaluation in obese patients for an improvement of rehabilitation and therapeutic managements, is presented. After a brief overview of the equipment commonly present in a motion analysis laboratory, some experimental setups for the acquisition of movement clinically important for obese individuals (walking, posture, sit to stand, and trunk movement), their application and limitations are described.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioengineering Department, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Veronica Cimolin & Manuela Galli

  2. Research Lab in Biomechanics and Rehabilitation, San Giuseppe Hospital, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Piancavallo, Verbania, Italy

    Veronica Cimolin

  3. Rehabilitation Unit and Research Lab in Biomechanics and Rehabilitation, San Giuseppe Hospital, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Piancavallo, Verbania, Italy

    Paolo Capodaglio

  4. IRCCS “San Raffaele Pisana” Tosinvest Sanità, Rome, Italy

    Manuela Galli

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  1. Veronica Cimolin
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  2. Paolo Capodaglio
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  3. Manuela Galli
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Correspondence to Veronica Cimolin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Via Cadorna 90, Piancavallo (VB), 28824, Italy

    Paolo Capodaglio

  2. , Department of Gastroenterology, Sao Paulo University Medical School, Avenida Eneias C. Aguiar 255, Sao Paulo, 05403-900, Brazil

    Joel Faintuch

  3. Ospedale San Giuseppe, Via Cadorna 90, Piancavallo (Oggebbio – VCO), 28824, Italy

    Antonio Liuzzi

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Cimolin, V., Capodaglio, P., Galli, M. (2013). Biomechanics of Basic Activities. In: Capodaglio, P., Faintuch, J., Liuzzi, A. (eds) Disabling Obesity. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35972-9_3

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