ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Down syndrome affects one in every 800 babies. It's a genetic condition that causes delays in intellectual and physical development. Researchers have now developed a treadmill for Down's babies to help them walk earlier than ever before.
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Six-year-old Evan keeps his big brothers busy. Nothing can slow him down, and that's just the way his mom likes it.
"He loves to run and play with his brothers," mother Jeanette Kurnik told Ivanhoe.
Evan has Down syndrome, a genetic disorder caused when a fetus has 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. Typical kids learn to walk at 12 months. Babies with Down syndrome learn at 24 to 28 months.
Kinesiologist Dale Ulrich, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., studies human movement and led the team who developed a tiny treadmill specifically for children with Down syndrome.
"The idea is we want to support this underlying pattern of coordination in their legs, this alternating stepping," Dr. Ulrich told Ivanhoe.
The treadmill training helps babies with Down learn to balance earlier. Signe Newcomb helps her daughter Lauren use the treadmill at home for eight minutes every day.
"She likes to stand more and is building her core muscle strength," Newcomb told Ivanhoe.
Once the babies take eight to ten steps by themselves, they are evaluated at the Gait Laboratory where information from light-reflecting markers attached to the child is recorded on cameras.
"Basically, we know how long their step is, how wide they walk and how fast they walk," Rosa Angulobarroso, a research scientist at the University of Michigan, told Ivanhoe.
Studies show the babies learn to walk six months earlier than kids without treadmill training, and the quality of their walking is much better. It doesn't sound like much, but it can mean a world of difference.
"Once locomotion occurs, it really advances cognitive development, social skill development and language, so the sooner you get them walking, [the sooner] they can explore their environment," Dr. Ulrich said.
Babies can start their treadmill training as early as eight to 10 months of age.
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