Kids? shoes are too short

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The Austrian research team “Children?s Feet ? Children?s Shoes” has published a new study in the pediatric podiatry journal ?P?diatrie & Podologie? (published by Springer Verlag).

390 children aged 1 ? 10 participated in the study, which was conducted in Helsinki, Finland.

The following research questions were addressed:

  • Do the children?s shoes fit properly?
  • Are the shoe sizes labeled correctly?

Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse im ?berblick:

Fit of shoes

  • 99 children (25.4%) were wearing properly fitting shoes, 256 children (65.6%) had shoes on that were too short in length.
  • 46 children (11.8%) were wearing shoes that were only as long as the child?s foot, or in some cases, even shorter.

Shoe sizes

  • 316 pairs of shoes were labeled with the size, but only 12 pairs (3.8%) were actually the size they were supposed to be.
  • The inside length of 301 pairs (95.3%) was shorter than it should have been according to the labeled shoe size.
  • The average difference in length was ? 11 mm (minus 11 millimeters)
  • When buying children?s shoes, the odds of finding a pair with the correct inside length corresponding to the labeled size are below 4%.
  • The probability of purchasing a shoe that is 15 or more millimeters shorter than it should be is over 40%.

From a podiatric health perspective, the results seen in in Finland, which are similar to those observed in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, are alarming. In 2009, the research group was able to document that too-short shoes are harmful to children?s feet (click here to read more about that study: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/10/159). The researchers advise parents to always measure both the length of the child?s feet and the inside length of the shoe before buying. This is the only way to ensure that kids? feet have the extra 12-17 mm (? ? ? inch) they need to stay healthy. When ordering shoes online, parents should insist that retailers provide information about the inside length of the shoes in addition to the shoe size.