Stature is an essential predictor of muscle strength in children

Table 3 Equations predicting log (MVIC) using age, height and sex as variables (n = 96 subjects)

Muscle function	Side	a	b	c	d	SD_log(MVIC)	Adjusted R²
Muscle function	Side	(Intercept)	(Age coeff)	(Height coeff)	(Sex coeff)	SD_log(MVIC)	Adjusted R²
Handgrip	ND	2.4555	0.0501	0.0152	−0.0727	0.2120	0.781
	D	2.2692	0.0416	0.0177	−0.1012	0.1925	0.826
Elbow flexion	ND	−0.5433	0.0298	0.0226	−0.0590	0.1603	0.894
	D	−0.5674	0.0317	0.0230	−0.0310	0.1840	0.870
Elbow extension	ND	0.0289	0.0319	0.0170	−0.0866	0.1950	0.791
	D	−0.0278	0.0321	0.0175	−0.0816	0.1893	0.807
Knee flexion	ND	0.4470	0.0372	0.0190	−0.0687	0.1935	0.830
	D	0.2679	0.0421	0.0203	−0.1368	0.2029	0.841
Knee extension	ND	0.4991	0.0182	0.0245	−0.0148	0.2251	0.809
	D	0.8783	0.0487	0.0199	−0.0239	0.2085	0.838

ND: non-dominant hand side; D: dominant hand side.
Handgrip strength is expressed in N; all other muscle functions are expressed in N.m. Age is expressed in years, height in cm, sex is 1 for girls and 0 for boys. SD_log(MVIC) is the residual standard deviation of the regression. The equation takes the form: log(MVIC) = a + b.age + c.height + d.sex, where a, b, c and d are the regression coefficients given in the table.