Summer is over - now we are thinking of preparing children for kindergarten or school. We know that children grew during holidays - their feet also grew so they will need new shoes.
Orthopedists warn: Too short a shoe makes the child contract the toes, which makes such deformations as a hallux, hallux malleus or hallux varus.
Foot size grows along with age. The length of children's feet reaches about 10 mm a year, but feet can grow more quickly or more slowly. Girls and boys have different foot growth. The foot can happen to become longer 10 mm within 6 months!
Proper fitting of shoes with the size of the feet is of great importance in assuring conditions of the right growth of children's feet. It is vital to remember that during walk, while bouncing from the toe to the next step, the foot moves forward and its fornix (its oblong arch) slightly flattens under weight, which makes the foot "lengthen".
For the reasons described above a shoe should be longer than the foot not less than 7-8 mm and not more than 10-11 mm.
And here are a few practical pieces of advice:
• do not buy shoes with a stick since the child's foot has its width and corpulence
• lace up or fasten shoes well; otherwise you will not see whether they do fit
• while trying on new shoes the child, wearing them, must make a few steps so that you can see they really fit the feet right
• you had better buy shoes afternoon when the child's feet are a bit tired
