'Trendy shoes can ruin teenagers' health'

Harmful tendoncies

These shoes look pretty sensible as most have little or no heel, for instance, and they often have rubber soles. But behind the looks, there lies long-term problems such as clawed toes, calluses, heel and knee pain, the experts said. “You have one pair of feet and need them for life, and yet teenagers today wear shoes which don’t support or protect them,” said Emma Supple, podiatrist at Supplefeet in North London.

Mike O’Neill, consultant podiatrist at the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, said: “Teenage girls in particular are storing up massive problems because the shoes they wear are often too flat and unsupportive.” According to the experts, teenagers are particularly vulnerable because foot bones continue to grow through adolescence - the bones are still soft so can be forced into unnatural shapes, rather like foot-binding in ancient China.

This changes their gait, leading to problems all the way up their skeleton, such as knee, hip and back pain, they said.