EFFECT OF FOOTWEAR ON LOWER LIMB KINEMATICS IN CHILDREN DURING SIDESTEP

Abstract

Wearing shoes has been shown to affect children’s gait and neuromuscular development. This study aims to evaluate the effect of supportive shoes and flexible shoes on children’s lower limb kinematics during sidestep. Fourteen children aged 6 to 13 years, with no foot deformity were recruited. A motion analysis system and a force plate were used for motion capture. Compared to jogging, sidestep has increased sagittal plane motion and a different frontal plane movement pattern. The supportive shoes allowed smaller midfoot sagittal range of motion (ROM) and higher peak knee flexion whereas flexible shoes showed increased motion in the first metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ), midfoot and hip with increased ankle eversion velocity and knee less internally rotated. Conventional supportive school shoes allowed less motion in healthy children’s feet, thus affecting negatively on long term lower limb functional development.