Let’s say you’re a mom and you managed to birth four lovely children. You take a look at their feet one day and say to yourself, “What happened? I have pretty feet with a normal arch. My husband has a high arch, and the best-looking feet I’ve ever seen on a man. But the kids! Their feet are as flat as boards! How will they ever deal with it in life?”
Well, first of all, children aren’t born with arches in their feet. Remember the footprint of them at the hospital? It actually looks similar to yours when you were a newborn. Their footprint is flat as a board.
As children start to grow and develop, they start to put more weight on their feet. They begin to stand up on their feet. The act of standing and walking starts to form the arches. Actually, scientists still haven’t figured out how this happens, but somewhere along the way there is a signal to the body to start forming the arch.
As your children get to the age of 5 and then 8, you should see evidence of arch development. If you don’t, that’s a good time to start providing Orthotic arch supports for kids. There actually are flat feet/low arch orthotics for kids that you can place in their shoes.
Here are a few of the best:
Birkenstock BirkoBalance Children’s Orthotic Arch Supports – Less than $50
Birkenstock makes sure your child’s feet are not going to overpronate by raising the sides of the Orthotic arch supports. By the same token, your child’s feet are going nowhere when it comes to falling to the outside either. If your child walks on the outside of his foot, this is called oversupination. These raised flanges of the Orthotic arch supports hold the foot in alignment much like the sides of a taco hold the food inside a taco.
These arch supports are made for flat feet/low arches and are orthotics. The Birkenstock BirkoBalance Children’s Orthotic Arch Supports are ¾ in length and have a deep heel cup for natural cushioning. Oh, by the way, there’s a metatarsal support for the ball of the foot as well.
Spenco Kids Total Support Insoles – Less than $30
These are ideal if your child has already started having pain in the ankles, knees, legs, hips and low back. They are perfect for athletic shoes, including tight shoes with cleats. These Orthotic arch supports will control overpronation and the arch support is semi-rigid so it will hold its shape for quite awhile. You can handwash them and air dry them. The Spenco Kids Total Support Insoles are true Orthotic arch supports built into an insole. They also provide a bit of cushioning – 6 mm at the heel and 4.2 mm at the forefoot.
One more good thing about the Spenco Kids Total Support Insoles (Orthotic arch supports) is that your child won’t have stinky feet anymore. They are covered with an antimicrobial top coat fabric.
Preventing foot problems in your children is a way to keep them healthy for life.