10 Best Tennis Shoes For Walking All Day

Best Tennis Shoes For Walking All Day in 2023

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Australian Podiatrist Finds Thongs Are Not Bad for Children’s Feet After All

Researchers in Australia have found that wearing thongs, aka flip-flops are not harmful to children and in some cases may be a better choice than other regular shoes.

Come summer, no matter which part of the world, people revert to more comfortable clothing, and traditionally, that includes sandals, or in many cases, the donning of the simple thong. Unfortunately, the thong, aka flip-flops, has enjoyed a less than a sterling reputation, especially regarding children. For decades it seems, parents have been complaining about the dire effects of thong wearing on children, and children have gone right on wearing them nevertheless. They are after all, comfortable, cheap and easy to get on and off. Now, after a lot of research, Australian podiatrist and general all around foot researcher Angus Chard from the University of Sydney's Footwear Research Group, has found that thong wearing by children doesn't appear to cause any harm whatsoever. He and his colleagues gave a talk recently to attendees of the International Foot and Ankle Biomechanics Conference, and the University has published a paper describing their findings.

To find out if thong wearing harms children, the research team enlisted thirteen young volunteers aged between eight and thirteen and fitted them with thongs. They then used special 3D video equipment to record the children in action, focusing on toes, feet, ankles, shins, whole legs and hips. The children were filmed walking, jogging, running and even hopping up and down. Interestingly, the camera and associated technology was the same as that used to record fill-in actors for the movie Happy Feet.

The research team found no undue strain on any of the parts examined and instead found that most of the motion associated with thongs is very nearly identical to that of people wearing no shoes at all, which most podiatrists now say, is the best scenario for healthy feet, which means that thong wearing might actually be good for children. They did however note that there were some movements that occurred as the children compensated for the thong, forcing it to stay on, or to line after again after slipping sideways. But they say this action didn't seem to cause any harm, though they caution that wearing thongs while engaging in actions that necessitate a lot of compensation could cause fatigue in calf or other leg muscles, though they're hesitant to even go that far, suggesting that such muscle fatigue could wind up resulting in stronger legs in general, which would of course mean healthy legs, ankles, feet and toes.

One area, the team wasn't able to study in detail was the impact on joints caused by stresses. To do that, they'll need to use other equipment that is able to peer inside the legs, ankles or toes to see what is going on while such parts are in action. They hope to get on that soon and to report back shortly thereafter.