So have you got problems with your feet due to wearing ill-fitting shoes as a child? Or is it all a myth?

[emkana]

I've just read on a different message board about how very very very important properly fitted shoes for children are.

Fair enough, I try to buy good quality shoes and to get the right size, of course, but sometimes I wonder if things are a bit exaggerated for selling purposes? Did people in the past really have such problems with their feet due to ill-fitting shoes? Will leaving the next size for a couple of months, until you finally make it to the shoe shop, really do such harm? And what about buying cheap shoes from ASDA or wherever - big mistake?

Mum always had me in Clarks due to very narrow feet (lovely T bar ones). I have very healthy feet that do exactly what they should.

However can I just say the word Plimsoll? Why on earth we all had to wear these expensive leather shoes and then wear plimsolls in school - well that made no sense to me at all.

My feet are quite flat, which is probably down to my mom's obsession with everyone always wearing shoes. Kids need to be barefoot. (I can't stand to be barefoot, my feet are too sensitive.)

It's worth noting that shoes that are a bit too big don't pose a risk of foot harm to kids at all, although they do make them a bit more likely to fall over. Too-small shoes are the problem.

DS2, helpfully, has a problem with the nails on his big toes - if they touch the end of the shoe, the nails start to peel off at the base. This is really really really gross, so I have to keep nails trimmed, and shoes reasonably big.

Oh, I think "over-pronation" is hyper-pronation, e.g. walking on the insides of your feet. I think it's associated with being flat-footed. I do it, but have improved, thanks to physio.

I always had Clarks (& I'm almost 43 so this was back in the 60s & 70s). DH always had cheap shoes and his feet are foul, as are his mothers.

I think you can probably get away with shoes from supermarkets if you have average-width feet but mine are very wide with a high instep and narrow ankles. Sadly all of my children have inherited the same awkward-shaped feet and we just can't chance cheap shoes.

im a size 9 and have been since a teenager. this makes it difficult to buy properly fitted shoes now, but when i was younger it was impossible! its great now that places like BArrats, Dolcis' and a cheapy shop called shoe zone stock a small range now but back then i just had to buy 8's and ram my feet in.

so now i have horrid feet with a bunion on each.
i dont think its a myth at all. if you were lucky enough to escape with nice feet it was simply that..a lucky escape!

AFAIK I had properly fitted shoes as a child - Clarks - but I've got bunions and on one foot it's really quite bad. I think bunions are partly hereditary though.

I never buy anything other than fitted shoes for teh kids - wouldn't just buy Next shoes or anything.

I always had properly fitted shoes and my feet are sort of okay still. But I now live in Germany where width fittings just aren't a big deal for kids' shoes. I don't see evidence that Germans suffer from dodgy feet particularly. But I could be wrong.

Sorry, i typed my message then had to get off computer for DS to do his on line gaming.

Over-pronating is where, when running, you land slightly to the outside of your heal, but then roll towards your instep, sort of a twisting motion. It happens mostly to the very flat-footed. If you are a regular runner, it tends to affect your ankles and knees over the months and years. I can no longer do very long runs (marathons) as the pains in my knees and hips become unbearable after about 90 mins. Physio tells me this is directly related to my over-pronating on my flat feet.

Lovely to be told i'm defective, despite the care my parents took over getting my shoes fitted.

I manage to over-pronate despite having a high instep - so it isn't always to do with flat feet!

I had clarks shoes as a child, until secondary age when I was finally allowed other brands.
My feet are okay, but I have worn all kinds of dodgy shoes since.
H wore fitted shoes too & his feet are not that good.