Why do fat people waddle

Our arms, torso, head all move to maintain balance while walking. This requires the coordination of a complex system of nerves, muscles, organs, and reflexes.

Now that the basics of normal walking are out of the way, we can look at abnormal gaits and their causes. Abnormal gaits can include dragging feet while walking, crossing of legs from one side to the other, feet hitting each other while walking, waddling from side to side, etc. A waddling gait is a type of abnormal gait. It is most often observed in overweight gait. It is characterized by the body moving side to side while walking.

The steps taken are also shorter than usual. The body also swings laterally in this type of gait. There are a few reasons behind this type of abnormal gait. So the person avoids this by swinging the legs forward laterally, without bending the knee.

Another reason is that if there is an excess amount of fat between the legs, it might impede the natural movement of the legs. The rubbing of two legs while normal walking may also cause irritation and discomfort.

Taking steps wider and moving less laterally is a simple solution to this problem. There are many more subtle but significant differences between how ordinary and overweight people walk except for waddling. So how does obesity affect walking? There has been a great deal of research into how weight affects human locomotion.

Kinesiological studies have shown that the walking patterns of overweight individuals are slightly different than usual. But these changes have a significant impact in reducing load and increasing comfort. This allows the initial impact of the heel to the ground to be reduced, lowering the stress on the ankle and knee.

So, can being overweight cause foot pain? Yes, it can. This helps lower the stress on the load-bearing leg. Another key difference is the flexion and extension of the hip during the different phases of walking. The flexion of the hip of obese people is more reduced compared to normal. Again, hip extension is also observed during toe-off.

This is due to the increased weight of the lower limbs. As the lower limbs are heavier due to excess fat, the range of movement of the hips is more limited. This can be seen as a strategy to reduce the workload of the hips and prevent fatigue. However, it may also be the result of the weakness of the gluteus muscles in the hips. The last change is wider steps and reduced overweight gait speed. This has to do with the increased center of gravity. The center of gravity of a person increases with weight.

The larger the center of gravity, the more difficult it is to balance. So to avoid losing balance and falling over, overweight people take smaller steps, wider apart.

This reduces the swinging time and lowers the risk of falling. A wider stance also distributes the weight over a wider area. Needless to say, obesity and diabetes go together, which is why I hear about this so often from diabetic clients. Diabetes can have a significant impact on your feet; it can result in nerve damage where you lose the ability to feel certain sensations in the feet such as pain or heat.

As a result, people with neuropathy can develop small injuries without even noticing them. Fat feet can be very unhealthy feet, but they can also be very unhappy feet. They were not meant to carry the over weight of your world.

So, lose weight, and turn your feet frowns upside down. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary.

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Instead, your body and your brain work together to eliminate instability, however subtle, and add a bit of waddle to your walk.

Closely related to the first point, as a person gains more weight their center of gravity can change over time and as a result, change their posture and the way they walk. It is a point at which the combined mass of the body appears to be concentrated. But in some cases, it can even change as you gain weight. This can be especially true depending on how your weight is distributed which is largely impacted by genetics.

Waddling can be a natural response to balancing your center of gravity and keeping your body stable. The findings of one study support this idea where they concluded that the center of gravity may not have been that different between obese and other individuals but that fat folks had a harder time regaining balance. This also explains why fat people typically take shorter strides as a longer gait is more likely to put them in an unfavorable position where they could lose their balance.