Growing Up Shod

The traits of good form blossom (or wilt) early

April 5, 2010

''We didn't all grow up Kenyan, after all."

Every discussion about minimalism seems eventually to come around to this statement. If the argument is that, having grown up shod, we're trained to need supportive shoes, what about the next generation? Can and should we as parents do anything to help our kids grow up more Kenyan than we did?

The medical establishment tends to be conservative on the issue. When asked, David Davidson, D.P.M., president of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine (AAPSM), stated, "Kids should not be running in 'minimalist footwear' at all and, as in other shoes, should be wearing brand name running shoes with good motion control, cushioning, etc." The Academy's official statement is somewhat more agnostic, stating, "Currently, inconclusive scientific research has been conducted regarding the benefits and/or risks of barefoot running."

It makes sense that doctors would be cautious. They also tend to see kids who have problems, and supporting the foot and controlling the stride helps alleviate many of these problems. It would seem to follow that all developing feet could use some support. But as runners, learning that many of these issues stem from foot, hip, or core weaknesses and improper strides, putting kids in motion-control shoes before they demonstrate the need for them feels like prescribing corrective eyeglasses to all children as soon as they start to read. Is it possible that overbuilt shoes contradict the medical mandate to "first, do no harm?"

Michael Yessis, Ph.D., professor of biomechanics and kinesiology and author of Explosive Running, believes so, stating that motion-control shoes "change how you run, preventing the foot from functioning normally." Yessis maintains that these shoes "don't do what they are supposed to do – if anything, they will lead to more injuries." Paul Langer, D.P.M., chair of the AAPSM's Shoe Committee, points to three studies from 1985 to 2008 that found differences in toddlers learning to walk when barefoot compared to wearing shoes, and between those in "sneakers" or less supportive shoes. "The significance of these studies," Langer says, "is that they show how our feet are sensory organs that allow us to interact with our environment and to develop natural movement patterns. These studies suggest that shoes can interfere with that development. Balance, stride length and stride width are all influenced by our ability to sense the surface we are landing on. Clearly, the more "stuff " between the foot and the ground the less ability we have to sense the landing surface."

The thousands of East African youth running miles to school barefoot argue also against the idea that shoes are necessary to prevent injury, and the resulting stride they develop speaks for itself in terms of running results. Watch very young American kids and you'll note that most of them also naturally demonstrate a "Kenyan" stride, up to a certain age. Nicholas Romanov, Ph.D., professor of physical education and sport known for his "Pose Method" of running, analyzed several thousand school children in Russia during the 1980s. Based on these observations, he told us, "Kids, with some exception, have a natural ability to run properly, meaning to fall forward, keep high cadence and the feet under the [general center of mass], their body weight on the forefoot, until age 5-6 years old."