An Austrian research paper is stepping on child shoe manufacturers toe’s by warning parents not to rely on manufacturers good will. Poorly-fitting shoes would damage kid’s feet and not every little shoe on the market fits well for all kids.
The Medical University of Vienna put up a team of researchers which investigated the effects of poorly-fitting shoes on children’s feet. They studied 858 three to six-year-olds of which 69.4% were wearing too-short shoes. But the indoor shoes that Austrian kids wear in pre-school are even worse. 88.8% of them didn’t fit like they should.
According to orthopaedist Christian Klein it is not a problem that kids don’t indicate when shoes are not big enough. “It’s up to industry and retail to act responsibly, because most shoes are mislabeled and shorter than indicated”.
Kids need 12 – 17 mm of extra space in shoes. Researchers advise parents and retailers to measure feet and the inside length of shoes with a measuring device (e.g. plus12) to ensure that shoes fit properly. Or to take a look at www.kidsfeet.info
Photo-source: Kidsfeet.info and Flickr