The Impact of Overweight and Obesity on Plantar Pressure in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Abstract

We aimed to synthesise the results of previous studies addressing the impact of overweight and obesity on plantar pressure in children and adolescents. An electronic search of scientific literature was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane and Scopus database, with keywords: “plantar pressure” AND “children” AND “obesity”; “plantar pressure” AND “adolescents” AND “obesity”, “plantar pressure” AND “children” AND “overweight”, “plantar pressure” AND “adolescents” AND “overweight”. Twenty-two articles were included in the review and the following data were recorded: authors, publication year, type of technology (systems, software) for the determination of plantar pressure, study characteristics. Most of the articles used dynamic plantar pressure determination with only four using static plantar pressure measurement. Using ultrasonography with static plantar pressure determination, the correlation between structural and functional changes in the feet of obese children. In overweight and obese children and adolescents, important findings were recorded: higher contact area, increased maximum force beneath the lateral and medial forefoot, increased pressure–time integral beneath the midfoot and 2nd–5th metatarsal regions. Significantly increased foot axis angle and significantly flatter feet were observed in obese subjects in comparison to their normal-weight counterparts. The obese children presented increased midfoot fat pad thickness, with decreased sensitivity of the whole foot and midfoot.

Sustainability-Sport-Physical Activity

“…Consequently, conducting health economic studies in the region gains substantial importance [ 46 ]. The lack of physical activity results in obesity; childhood obesity in turn leads to an increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in adulthood, not to mention different long-term socioeconomic consequences [ 47 ]. One solution to the problem is to introduce active breaks between school lessons when students can do short but frequent physical exercises to freshen up [ 48 ].…”

A Cross-Sectional Study of Foot Growth and Its Correlation with Anthropometric Parameters in a Representative Cohort of Schoolchildren from Southern Spain

“…Some authors establish that an increase in BMI leads to an increase in foot morphology particularly in metatarsal and heel width, but few correlational studies have analyzed these parameters in more detail. In children and adolescents, overweight seems to have an impact on foot structures, with changes in the anatomical structures, an abnormal distribution of the plantar pressure [ 22 , 23 , 26 ]. In our study we found a strong correlation between foot width and BMI at 12 years.…”

Load Transference with the Gain of Excessive Body Mass: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study

“…Especially, as the foot structure is in the process of development in children, childhood obesity may undermine the foot structure and foot function and further lead to the redistribution of foot loadings [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Previous studies investigating the effect of increased weight on the plantar pressures and foot structural changes in children have commonly been cross-sectional [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]; obese/overweight children are compared with those of normal weight, but the temporal relationship of pathologic development on foot function with the increased excessive body mass is unknown. It is necessary to figure out how the foot function gradually changes with the increased excessive body mass that is physiologically gained over time.…”