Objective To explore the gait characteristics of healthy children when walking on a treadmill at different slopes（0°and 10°）.Methods A total of 50 healthy children who underwent a routine health check-up at a Sichuan hospital from February 2015 to June 2016 were included in this study.All children were asked to walk on a treadmill at different slopes（0°and 10°）.A Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment（CAREN）system was used to collect gait data.Three temporal-spatial parameters and 12 kinematic parameters were compared between the walking giants on 0°versus 10°treadmill.Results The walking speed on a10°treadmill was significantly slower than that on a 0°treadmill（P<0.05）.The stride length on a 10°treadmill was significantly longer than that on a 0°treadmill（P<0.05）

while the stride width on a 10°treadmill was significantly narrower than that on a 0°treadmill（P<0.05）.The maximal trunk anterior inclination angle

pelvic inclination angle

maximal hip flexion angle

maximal hip extension angle

hip angle at initial contact

maximal knee flexion angle during the loading phase

maximal knee extension angle

knee angle at initial contact

and maximal ankle dorsiflexion angle on a 10°treadmill were significantly larger than those on a 0°treadmill（all P<0.05）.The ankle angle at initial contact on a 10°treadmill was significantly smaller than that on a 0°treadmill（P<0.05）.The maximal knee flexion angle during the swing phase and maximal ankle plantar-flexion angle were comparable when children were walking on either 10°or 0°treadmill（P>0.05）.Conclusion Healthy children are generally able to adapt to the 10°slope by adjusting the motor pattern of their lower limbs.However

In case of the knee joint is in a long-term hyperflexion

it will become overloaded and lead to knee pain.Thus

changes to the knee joint during the standing phase should be monitored when slope walking is used for rehabilitation training or daily physical exercise.