5 exciting facts about children’s feet

1. Children’s feet grow about a millimeter per month

Pretty much, isn’t it? One millimeter a month is two shoe sizes a year. Because a shoe size corresponds to the “Paris line”, a size system commonly used in Europe, 6.67 millimeters in length. For example, shoe size 30 is calculated by calculating 30 times 6.67 millimeters. This results in an inner length of the shoe of 20 centimeters.

Incidentally, the millimeter per month applies above all to three to six-year-old children, for one to three-year-old children it is often 1.5 millimeters and for children from the age of six it is a little less than one millimeter per month. Feet are only fully grown between the ages of 13 and 16.

It is therefore very important to regularly check (or have it checked in the shop) whether the current shoes still fit your child. Children often realize much too late that they have outgrown their shoes. And that in turn leads to our next exciting but also frightening fact:

2. Almost 70 percent of kindergarten children wear shoes that are too small

This was the result of a study by the Medical University of Vienna. Many other studies come to a similar conclusion. Wearing shoes that are too small can have serious consequences for the offspring.

Foot deformities and malpositions remain permanent and can change the movement pattern and thus lead to long-term damage to the joints and spine.

More than 88 percent of the kindergarten children examined in the study also wore slippers that were too small. And they are very often worn by children, be it at home or in kindergarten.

3. In the past, the fit of children’s shoes was measured with X-ray machines

In fact, up until the 1960s, the so-called pedoscope was used in shoe shops to check whether children’s shoes really fit.

The children had to put their shoed feet in the X-ray machine so that mothers and shoe saleswomen could be sure that the potential new shoe also had enough space for the foot.

Although the health hazards of X-rays were known very soon after their discovery, the device was not banned in Germany until 1973.

4. Children’s feet are different from adult’s feet

This fact sounds logical at first, after all, adult feet are also much larger than children’s feet. But the feet of children also differ from the feet of adults in other characteristics: They are softer, more flexible and less sensitive to pressure (which is why children, unlike adults, as mentioned, do not notice that they are wearing shoes that are too small).

In addition, children often have flat feet at the beginning, which is due to the fat pad under the sole. This is completely normal and nothing to worry about. The so-called flat foot is also common in children, it is caused by the development of the leg axis and is also normal.

Babies are born with bowlegs, which develop into bowlegs in the third year of life due to the growth dynamics. At the age of six to seven, the leg axes are more or less straight. Insoles may only be necessary if there is pain or if the feet bend too much.

5. Our feet carry us around the world four times

Okay, this fact doesn’t just apply to children’s feet. But it shows that our feet really do an amazing job. It’s hard to imagine, but our feet actually carry us around the world about four times in the course of our lives, an average of about 170,000 miles. And that with the beginning of the first steps of a child.

With every step, our feet have to cushion many times our body weight in order to relieve the joints and the spine. Obesity in children and adolescents can therefore also have a negative effect on the development of the feet.

In addition, the lack of exercise continues to increase, causing the muscles in the feet and legs to become flabby. Splayfoot, fallen arches and flat feet can be the result. Walking barefoot, balancing, climbing and balance exercises strengthen weak muscles – and are a lot of fun at the same time!