At SoleFit, we gets lots of parents coming through who are asking about growing pains and looking to find the best possible footwear for their children. Unfortunately, the current footwear landscape for children is largely based on dogma. Instead of looking to provide rigid protection for a child’s foot, we should instead be looking to promote healthier feet by allowing the foot to develop naturally. There are certainly instances where we want to provide more support, but in a majority of a cases we want shoes to mimic a child’s bare foot as much as possible!
Children’s footwear today is made, fitted and sold by the same naïve rules as a half-century and more ago. – Dr. William A. Rossi DPM
It can be difficult to know where to look to find these types of shoes that we mention in the video. The following brands tend to make their kid’s footwear with more anatomically correct shapes, more flexible soles, and little to no heel to toe drop.
As you’ll notice, as great as these shoes are, they tend to be quite expensive. As an alternative to the above brands, search out your local kids shoe stores and box stores for shoes that match the characteristics that we talk about in the video as closely as possible. There are some good options available once you know what you’re looking for!
As always, we’d love to hear from you if you have any questions and/or comments. To keep up with blog posts, health tips, and upcoming events be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter!