There’s nothing quite like the feeling of lush grass between your toes, or undulating sand on a balmy shoreline, or the softness of your home carpet. Whatever the surface, there’s something naturalistically delightful in going barefoot.
This is even more prevalent in children, who will frequently kick off their shoes and unabashedly run and play wherever they can. But, as more scientific evidence is proving, there’s more to it than the great feeling.
In fact, young children roaming around barefoot has many benefits. Badly designed and/or ill fitted shoes constrict feet and contort their shape, stunting natural growth. Low quality shoes or too frequent wear can also teach kids to walk differently and even warp spatial awareness…
Key benefits for allowing your children to maximise barefoot exposure
Going barefoot can aid natural growth
“The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art,” Leonardo Da Vinci once said, but he might reconsider if he looked at our feet today. The profusion of fashion and technology is leading to uncomfortable shoes being worn by younger and younger children, which is causing foot problems down the track.
A growing body of evidence illustrates how increased barefoot time in children leads to better developed feet, even suggesting people had healthier feet before shoes were invented. That’s because most shoes force our feet to taper inwards with the toes pinched in unnaturally, our feet moulded that way through years of wearing shoes.
A baby’s foot is made up of cartilage. Over time, ossification takes place and the 28 bones begin to form. But shoving our children’s feet into stiff, unsupportive shoes can change the shape of our feet and how we use them (according to The Foot Film).
And since feet conform to a shoe’s shape rather than developing naturally, toes are constrained and cushioned heels elevate the back of the foot, shortening leg muscles and tendons. In children, these factors are heightened because their feet are growing so rapidly.
Barefoot can help kids walk and play properly
Cushioned soles mean we tend to slam our heels into the ground rather than tread gently. Most shoes also feature a toe spring that helps us lift our toes off the ground. This leads to weak muscles designed for walking; children don’t strengthen their toes, ligaments or tendons.
Podiatrist Tracy Byrne says kids who walk barefoot keep their heads up more. They’re able to feel the ground, which in turn improves their sense of balance. “The feedback they get from the ground means there is less need to look down, which is what puts them off balance and causes them to fall down.”
Barefoot play helps children gain confidence too. Instead of slipping and sliding around in shoes, children can use the natural traction in their soles to climb the slippery dip backwards or flex their toes as they grip the fireman’s pole in the playground.
Barefoot increases spatial awareness
The soles of our feet have over 200,000 nerve endings which transmit information to our brains about the ground we walk on (known as proprioception) and awareness of surroundings. Allowing these nerve endings to feel the ground helps children develop better balance and coordination, can lead to fewer lower body injuries and keeps kids focused on their surroundings and gentler in their movements.
It’s about the quality of shoes
But let’s be honest. Your child will have to wear shoes fairly regularly. It’s simply not plausible to have them go barefoot everywhere. The key to healthy feet is minimising shoe usage and maximising the quality of shoes…
Conscientious kids’ shoe companies like ours actually advocate barefoot play. We base our philosophy on child development, the idea that shoes should not constrict but promote foot health and allow feet to grow, flex and strengthen naturally. Our motto is ‘healthy feet for life’.
At Bobux we design shoes that recognise the natural anatomical shape of a changing child’s foot, mimicking the natural freedom of barefoot and delivering maximum comfort and protection for those times when shoes are necessary.
Going barefoot is great for your children, like reading them a bedtime story or feeding them healthy food. We recommend finding shoes that foster natural development with flexible soles and soft designs – as close to barefoot as possible – to nurture your child’s foot at every stage of their development. Check out Bobux’s full range of shoes today.
About Bobux
This article was written by Bobux, a kiwi kids’ shoe company that prides itself on foot health and development. Since its humble beginnings in an Auckland garage in 1991, Bobux has maintained a strong emphasis on family values, creating soft-sole shoes that nurture kids’ feet. The first Bobux shoe was sold at Victoria Park Markets in Auckland. Now Bobux sells over half a million pairs each year in over 30 countries including New Zealand, Australia, UK, USA, Italy, Belgium and France. Visit our website to find out more about who we are.
Agree (0)
Disagree (
__small.png)
