Prevalence of Foot Deformity in Primary School Children

Abstract

The frequency of occurrence of acquired flat feet increases with the development of civilization, becausethe gripping function has completely disappeared and today the foot is exclusively used for support. The correctshape and function of the foot directly depends on a properly built bone structure and a good balance of the strengthof the muscles involved in standing and walking. If this balance is disturbed, as a result, the vaults descend. The aimof the work was to analyze the prevalence of lowered foot arches in boys and girls aged 6 to 11 from Bijeljina andBrčko (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The research was transversal in nature, only one measurement was carried out.235 children of both sexes, 111 boys and 124 girls, took part in the analysis of the arches of the feet. The diagnosisof flat feet is based on the valgus position of the heel and the lowered arches of the feet. The subjects' feet werescanned in a standing position with a computer digital podoscope SupOrt. This measuring instrument analyzes thestatus of the arch of the foot in 5 degrees, four degrees refer to a flat foot and one to the so-called indented foot. Theresearch results show a high prevalence of lowered foot arches in the analyzed sample of respondents of 63%. Malerespondents had a significantly higher prevalence of lowered foot arches compared to female respondents. Thisresearch is one of the few that uses a reliable digital computer podoscope to analyze the arches of the feet. Childrenwith increased body mass had a higher prevalence of foot deformities.