Flat feet don't impair motor skills
Flat feet have no effect on a child's athletic ability.
Flat feet have no effect on a child's athletic ability. There is no relationship between the height of kids' arches and their performance on a battery of tests to measure their motor skills.
Children with flat feet are frequently prescribed arch supports, but the benefit of these devices is doubtful at best, given that scientific evidence for their use is lacking. To investigate whether flat-footedness might have any link to motor skills, researchers from Croatia looked at 218 children ranging in age from 11 to 15 years, dividing them into four groups based on arch height. The study participants completed 17 different tests measuring jumping and hopping ability, speed and reaction time, balance and other factors relevant to athletic performance.
No relationship was found between how flat a child's feet were and his or her performance on the tests, even when the researchers compared the group with the lowest arches to the group with the highest arches.
However, the relationship between arch height and injury risk is still controversial. A previous study found that those with the lowest arches were actually less likely to be injured during basic training while another study found that flat feet boosts injury risk, or has no relationship to the likelihood of being injured.
Nevertheless, it seems that foot flatness does not affect lower leg motor abilities, so the application of standard corrective insoles with the purpose to improve athletic performance in children aged 11 to 15 years is questionable and may be inadvisable. The researchers suggested that there was no need for treatment of flexible flat feet with the sole purpose of improving athletic performance, as traditionally advised by many.
Pediatrics
March 2009
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