Tuesday 13 June 2017
Researchers are looking for parents of babies to take part in the first study its kind aimed at transforming our understanding of how young children’s feet develop as they learn to walk.
The five year Great
Foundations scheme, led by research teams from the Universities of
Salford and Brighton and funded by £1.5m from the William M Scholl Endowment
Fund, will look in detail at how the foot develops as children start to walk
independently, as well as parents’ attitudes and beliefs around infant foot
health.
It consists of
two studies – Small Steps which will for the first time establish an
understanding of foot development as children learn to walk and Little
Footnotes which will build up a picture of how people get their information
about children’s foot health.
Small Steps is
the most ambitious study of its kind to date. Parents of babies who are just
beginning to crawl and pull themselves up are now being invited to
purpose-built ‘baby spaces’ in the University of Salford’s Brian Blatchford
Building and at the University of Brighton which have been designed to look as
much as possible like nurseries.
Researchers
will measure how the babies move using a series of 3D cameras to film them as
they crawl or toddle across a short area.
Information
gathered from the cameras will show how the children move during this critical
stage of their development, while a pressure pad below their feet and some
tools placed on the skin will help scientists understand how their foot muscles
work.
For the next
three years research teams will be looking for parents of children aged around
three to five months and not yet standing who can visit the lab to help them
carry out this work.
The team will
invite parents to return over the course of a year to look at how their
children’s feet continue to develop as they grow and begin to walk with more
confidence.
As part of
Little Footnotes, the team will talk to groups of parents and carers, as well
as looking at data from online forums and mum chat rooms to find answers to
questions such as what factors influence decisions around buying shoes.
They will also
be talking to major footwear brands and health professionals such as Health
Visitors and Podiatrists. The outcomes may be used to inform parents and carers
about issues such as how and when they should buy their children’s first shoes.
Professor
Chris Nester, Research Programme Leader at the University of Salford, said:
“Buying your child’s first pair of shoes is such an important moment, but
there’s a huge gap in our knowledge about how children’s feet develop during
this crucial time.
“When it comes
to answering fundamental questions like when people should buy their child’s
first shoes and how feet should be measured, a lot of people base their decisions
on word of mouth or turn to potentially misleading web forums because the
official advice might be difficult to access.
“This research
will enable us to build up a detailed understanding of children’s foot
development and our findings could have huge implications in the future – by
providing parents with accurate advice, helping footwear manufacturers design
better products, and enabling health professionals to give appropriate support.
“Decisions made
during infancy can have an effect on people for the rest of their lives, and
being able to provide evidence based information to parents could help us
prevent future problems for a generation which hasn’t even been born yet.”
Dr Stewart
Morrison of the University of Brighton said: “There are some fundamental gaps in our understanding of where parents get
their knowledge on foot health, what concerns them, and how health
professionals might provide appropriate support.
“This is very timely because of the increasing
emphasis on prevention rather than cure of diseases in adulthood. Getting
evidence based public foot health messages to parents should be a great way to
prevent future problem.”
Dr Brian
Ellis, Director of the Dr William M Scholl Unit of Podiatric Development, said:
“Children’s foot health is a much neglected area of research and therefore
justifies the investment of £1.5m in the ‘Great Foundations’ five year
programme of research. This research is designed to transform our knowledge of
how children’s feet develop during the transition to walking.
“The
laboratory component of the study will utilise innovative technologies to
capture and measure the developmental changes which occur as the child learns
to walk. The project will generate public health information which will inform:
parents; medical and health care practitioners; researchers; as well as the
footwear industry.”
Anyone
interested in taking part in one of the University of Salford sessions should
contact Dr Carina Price on 07546 984 420 or c.l.price@salford.ac.uk.
Watch a video
about the project here.