Foot Facts

Feet are actually really important, especially children’s feet as they start out with soft flexible cartilage which gradually converts to bone with age.   Their highly complex structure helps us stand tall and sets us up for a lifetime of adventures on our feet.  Yet they are one of the most over-worked and under-appreciated parts of our body. So we feel its time to stand up for feet and appreciate just how extraordinary they are.  Did you know…?

1. Our feet carry us the equivalent of five times round the earth in an average lifetime

2. It would take an average person walking nonstop approximately 347 days to walk around the world

3. Standing still is more tiring than walking, because you only use a few muscles when you’re still, whereas walking distributes the weight and effort over more muscles

4. Among children, boys take on average 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day and girls take average 10,000 to 13,000 steps a day

5. The average foot contains 26 bones (a quarter of bones in our body), 19 muscles, 100 ligaments plus a complex system of nerves and blood vessels

6. These bones take until the age of 18 to fully harden

7. According to College of Podiatry UK (2014), the average foot has increased 2 sizes since the 1970s

8. Children’s feet grow two sizes on average a year for the first four years of life and one thereafter

9. In general, the main period of accelerated growth for in girls is between eight and 13 years with the peak rate at approximately 12 years of age. In boys this is slightly later between 10.5 and 16 years with the peak rate at approximately 14 years

10. By the age of 14 the average boys shoe size is a whopping 42 and girls at the age of 12 measure 39 on average.