Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Foot morphology in Spanish school children according to sex and age

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 57; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00140139.2014.895055

1366-5847

Laura Delgado-Abellán, Xavier Aguado Jódar, Ester Jiménez-Ormeño, Laura Mecerreyes, Luis M. Alegre,

Body Composition Measurement Techniques

AbstractThe aim of this study was to analyse the differences in foot dimensions in a sample of Spanish school-aged children. A total of 497 boys and 534 girls from Spain participated in the study. Measurements of both feet were obtained using a 3D foot digitiser, and shoe sizes were recorded and then estimated based on foot length measurements. The variations in foot measurements underwent a gradual increase with age in both boys and girls. Gender differences appeared at the age of 8–9 years, when the girls in the sample were found to wear smaller shoes than those they should have worn. Most foot dimensions begin to differ between boys and girls at the age of 8 years. The girls in the sample studied used footwear that was too small for their foot length, probably because they looked for a better width fit.AbstractPractitioner Summary: There is a lack of data on the foot morphology of Spanish school children. We found gender differences in foot morphology, and observed that the girls were not using optimally fitting shoes. These results could be useful for the design of age- and gender-specific children's footwear.Keywords:: footwearfoot dimensionschildren3D foot digitiser AcknowledgementsWe thank the following primary schools from the province of Toledo for their participation in this study: CP San José, CP María del Mar and CP Condes de Fuensalida (Fuensalida); CP Gregorio Marañón (Huecas); CP Conde de Ruiseñada (Portillo de Toledo); CP Nuestra Señora de la Paz (Santa Cruz del Retamar); CP Nuestra Señora de la Redonda (Villamiel); and CP Alfonso VI, CP La Candelaria, CP Ciudad de Aquisgrán and CP Santa Teresa (Toledo). We also thank INESCOP (Elda, Alicante, Spain) for technical support.Additional informationFundingThe present study obtained financial support from the FEDER funds and the Counsel of Education, Science and Culture of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.