Time to buy new school shoes soon. When you are buying shoes this year remember that your kids are still growing and so are their bones.  Feet that are damaged will cause pain and many problems with their posture and feet in later life.  Think about that next time you buy flat ballet shoes or lowrise canvas shoes as school shoes for everyday wear.  It isn’t all about not wearing high heels. Flat shoes that have no support or padding can be just as bad as kids feet don’t stop developing until they are 18 years old!

I know myself that in general high heels are not comfortable. I love flat shoes but I have found that if I wear the cheaper brands of flat ballet pumps my feet are killing me if I walk no more than 20 minutes into town.  I tend to go to Clarks for my shoes for the kids and for me. I love the padded flat shoes they do that feel like walking on air!  I cannot go to just any other store and buy cheaper flat pumps or my feet, and I, pay the price in pain and blisters.

Wearing flat shoes without any support or padding like ballet pumps can cause your arches to collapse and this can caue your feet to roll inwards.  There was a great article in the Scottish Sunday Express by Rachel Carlyle on 31st July 2011. Rachel interviewed Emma Supple of www.supplefeet.com who is a leading Podiatrist. She confirmed that ballet flats are amongst the worse kind of shoes for young kids and teenagers. The foot apparently has 3 arches which work together to keep your feet and you healthy. These are not supported by ballet pumps. They have no cushioning in the sole or the arches, all of the inner one, outer one and lateral one. Yes, we have 3 arches in the foot.

That covers girls but boys are just as bad with low-rise canvas trainers with no arch support or cushioning.  Apart from feet problems these shoes can cause problems with the way they walk, like Charlie Chaplin style and with their walk and their posture in later life.  Both ballet shoes and canvas shoes are loose fitting and the child needs to adjust their walk to keep them on their feet. Also they allow water in easier which can make their feet wet and soggy, also not good all day long.

I have always known this myself but when I was a kid there was not the option of ballet pumps or low-rise canvas shoes for school. Everyone had to wear regulation school shoes at my school. They had to be lace up and had to have a cushioned heel.  now I see tonnes of young girls buying the cheap and fashionable £10-15 ballet shoes, and boys wearning the canvas shoes.

Remember that both Clarks and Startright sell even ballet pumps that have more cushioning and a strap across the top to hold them on if you cannot avoid the tantrums and have to buy them. Shoes with the strap across the arch will always fit better than those without.  I would of course recommend the best name labels are the thicker vinyl, high quality vinyl shoe labels from labels4kids for naming your shoes.

Next time you buy be wary of false economies buying cheap shoes. Spend more and buy for their future health.  And when you have invested in good shoes, remember to buy your vinyl shoe labels to put in the heel so that noone else takes their school shoes home by mistake and they can find their shoes easily with their clear vinyl shoe labels inside them including name and image too.

We also sell right foot labels here at labels4kids for younger kids learning to match their left shoe with their right. A great idea for vinyl shoe labels that not only give their own name and image but also allow them to match the right shoe on the right foot.