TITLE:
Cross-Sectional Study Shows Kindergarten Barefoot Policy Positively Affects Soles’ Contact Area
AUTHORS:
Shigeki Matsuda, Kosho Kasuga, Tadayuki Hanai, Tomohiro Demura
KEYWORDS:
Barefoot Policy, Preschool Children, Preschool, Kindergarten, Plantar Arch, Hallux Valgus, Foot Angle
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Physical Education,
Vol.8 No.3,
August
2,
2018
ABSTRACT: Although some studies have examined the effect of allowing preschool children to go without shoes, some points remain unexamined. Therefore, this study examined the effect of kindergartens’ barefoot policy on the contact area of the soles of the feet (plantar arch, hallux valgus angle, and foot angle). Participants were 313 preschool children (169 boys; 144 girls) at a kindergarten following the barefoot policy and 339 (176 boys; 163 girls) at a kindergarten not following the policy. The children stood barefoot on a pedoscope, so images of their soles’ contact area could be taken and then analyzed by software specifically for that purpose. Both boys and girls who attended kindergartens with barefoot policy had better development of the plantar arch and less angle of the hallux valgus than children who attended kindergartens not following the barefoot policy. Only boys who attended kindergartens that followed barefoot policy had a larger foot angle than children who attended kindergartens that did not. For preschool children, barefoot policy positively affected their soles’ contact area.