Are Thongs OK for Kids?

The West Australian newspaper recently published an article (14/4/12) about a study comparing of the effects of barefoot versus thong wearing in children. The article claims that wearing thongs may be beneficial for children compared to wearing shoes. This flies in the face of conventional advice and long standing professional opinion.

Feet First principal podiatrist Wes Huck says the study is interesting, but the sample size of seven children (not mentioned in the newspaper article) was too small to draw any useful conclusions. Wes says the study cannot be used to support thongs as a healthy choice of footwear for growing children.

Wes says thongs are convenient and OK for short periods but only for children with normal feet, who don’t need any support.