Comfortable shoes are here to stay. These trends are positive for FEET..
More Women Choose Low-Heeled Shoes
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The majority of women are now wearing flat, more sensible shoes at work, according to a survey presented recently at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons meeting in New Orleans.
"I think women are finally realizing that as they have to spend more and more time in the workplace, they want to be more comfortable in their shoes," said Dr. Cherise Dyal of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. "And they are realizing that they have more problems with their feet and they want shoes that are going to be able to accommodate what they have to do on a day to day basis."
Dyal presented the results of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society's shoe survey, which polled 500 working women on the kinds of shoes they were wearing to work. About 46% of women wear flats, 23% wear athletic shoes, 21% wear pumps less than 2 1/4 inches in height, and only 3% wear shoes with heels that are higher than 2 1/4 inches. In other words, Dyal said, the majority -- 69% -- of women are wearing shoes that are 1 inch in height or less.
The survey showed that higher heels are more commonly worn to work by older women. "Only 16% of women 20 to 30 years indicated they wore heels higher than one inch to work, while 28% of women 40 to 50 said they did," said Dyal in a statement issued by the Society.
Wearing high heels places high pressure on the forefoot, which can lead to bunions, hammertoes, and other foot problems. Dyal also noted that the problems caused or exacerbated by ill-fitting shoes are cumulative. Over decades of shoe-wearing, these problems often worsen, so that doctors tend to see more women with foot problems in their fourth, fifth and sixth decades, rather than in younger generations. The findings could mean that there will be fewer foot problems when these young women age.
"In this study we saw that 75% of the women in the 20-30 are category are wearing shoes that are less than 1 inch in height," Dyal said. "And 30% are wearing athletic shoes." |
