A few months ago I published an interview Adidas Superstar Donne I conducted with Dr. Mark Cucuzzella. Mark is a family physician at Harpers Ferry Family Medicine in WV, an Associate Professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine, and www.domoreso.fr the owner of Two Rivers (TR) Treads, the nation’s first minimalist-only running store. Like me, Mark has a strong interest in running form and minimalist footwear, and like me he is also a parent. One of the challenges we share as parents is finding shoes that we feel are suitable to put on the feet of our children. Sadly, most options available right now are simply miniature versions of adult shoes and are generally overly cushioned and not well designed for the foot of a child.Mark was Nike Air Max 90 Hombre kind enough to send me a few pairs of Terra Plana Vivobarefoot Kids shoes for my own children, and my daughter loves them (she has Pally’s) – they have a nice wide toebox, Nike Air Max 2017 Femme and are flat and extremely flexible. My son, on the other hand, is picky and will only wear Crocs or typical sneakers (though he is almost always barefoot, by his own preference,www.jamlikhalsavast.se  around the house) – unfortunately, good options for kids running shoes that support natural foot function are simply not available yet (things will thankfully be improving soon if rumors I hear from a big company are correct – stay tuned). Anyway, given my frustration, as well as that of a number of readers who have contacted me about this issue, I asked Mark if he would be willing to write a guest post about children and shoes. Mark happily obliged, and his expertise as both a physician Asics Gel Lyte 5 Femme and shoe store owner makes for a very informed and unique opinion on the topic. Enjoy – be sure to share your thoughts and/or experiences in the comments!As a family Adidas Superstar Womens physician, I firmly believe that children should play in their bare feet or in activity shoes that complement natural foot development and proper biomechanics of movement. Runners, walkers, coaches, and the medical community are all awakening to the benefits of allowing proper natural foot motion to occur in all of our daily activities. Leaders in the running mechanics, sports medicine, dancing, and yoga/tai chi communities all understand that the smartest design that will ever be developed for human movement and injury free activity is the human foot itself. Running shoe companies are slowly hearing this message and adapting their product lines to create footwear Adidas Superstar Femme that allows your foot to behave like a foot, but most have only applied this new thinking to adult models. Unfortunately, the modern shoe industry and its marketing machine Nike Air Max 90 Femme Rose effectively convince parents that when running, a child should wear miniature versions of traditional adult running shoes; almost all of which have elevated heels, extreme cushioning, and some form of motion control technology. Many dress shoes for children are also stiff and overly supportive. Personally, as a doctor I firmly believe that the strongest form of support for a child is a strong foot that is flat on the ground.infant feetHere’s an important point to keep in mind – a child’s foot is not a miniature version of an adult’s foot. In early development, a child’s foot is widest across the toes. If our population wore shoes that were designed with this Adidas Superstar Femme functional shape from birth, most adults would also have feet with the greatest width located across the toes, and the toes would be perfectly aligned with the metatarsals (the Nike Air Max 720 Femmelong bones in midfoot). Most of a child’s developing foot is composed of cartilage, which is gradually replaced by bone. If the cartilage is deformed by badly shaped or rigid shoes, the bones will take on the deformed shape. More than 80% of foot problems, bunions and injuries are a result of misshaped and inflexible shoes. It’s vital that kid’s shoes allow enough room for natural growth, until the foot bones mature. This doesn’t happen until ages 18-19 for girls and 20-21 for boys. Simply put; inflexible, poorly shaped shoes are potentially harmful – they restrict the natural movement and development of the foot.