Pre-School Health Risk: Too-Small Indoor Shoes

Most European kids wear house slippers or other indoor shoes in pre-school and kindergarten. According to a recent study conducted by the ?Children?s Feet ? Children?s Shoes? research team in cooperation with the Salzburg Regional Health Insurance Fund, over half of these kids are wearing shoes that are too short in length.

Five-year-old Lea thinks ?Do your shoes fit?? is a silly question. Of course they do ? they?re her favorite shoes!

But both Lea and her mom are surprised by the results of the researchers? examination: Leas?s shoes are four sizes too small. ?This was a particularly drastic case in this year?s investigation,? says Dr. Wieland Kinz, head of the research team. But even if most kids aren?t wearing shoes four sizes too small, over 60% of the 283 children tested were wearing indoor shoes that were too short in length.

The researchers have found two reasons for this:

First, most children?s shoes are mislabeled: The size marked on the outside of the shoe is not the size on the inside. Over 90% of all children?s shoes are shorter in length than they should be ? up to six sizes too short. In Lea?s case: The shoe was marked a size 28, but the inside measurement was only as long as a size 22. There is no legally required standard for shoe sizes, which allows manufacturers to print whatever size they want on their shoes.

Second, young children can?t tell if their shoes are too small. Studies have shown that children up to age 10 will often claim that too-small shoes fit comfortably.

This is a serious health risk: Too-short shoes can cause damage to children?s feet, often resulting in a permanent deformation of the toes, for example hallux valgus.

For a good fit, children?s shoes need at least 12 mm of extra length at the toe. You can test this yourself easily with a simple cardboard template: Have your child stand on a piece of cardboard and trace the outline of her foot. Add 12mm to the end of the longest toe and cut a strip, about as wide as 2 fingers, from the longest part of the outline. If the cardboard strip can?t fit in the shoe without buckling, the shoe is too short.