The correct fitting of children’s shoes is crucial to the normal and natural development of the growing foot. That growing foot is malleable and easily deformed. There is some controversy around the use of supportive features in children’s shoes and care needs to be given when it comes to giving advice in that context. Some argue that the shoe should be minimal and not interfere with the foot’s development and others argue that there should be some support to encourage the foot to develop properly. This is not the place to get into this debate, as we focus here on bunions.
Which ever school of thought you are biased towards, there can be no doubt that the shoe for children must be wide and long enough in the forefoot to prevent any pressures that might increase the risk for bunions. The shoe must be checked and replaced at regular intervals as the child’s foot grow to prevent any problems developing.