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The child’s shoe fits with WMS

98 % of all children are born with healthy feet. However, 60 % of all adults suffer from damaged feet. This damage is frequently created in infancy: by shoes that do not fit. In accordance with studies carried out, 50 percent of children wear shoes that are either too large or too small. The explanation for that is simple: children’s feet are soft and mouldable, that is why children themselves do not notice whether a shoe pinches. The thumb test, a preferred method by parents to find out whether there is a wide enough gap between the big toe and the toe cap, is unfortunately not a reliable method, to find out the correct size, because children in a kind of  reflex pull in their toes when they feel pressure. In case of shoes with reinforced front caps, the big toe cannot be felt at all. Therefore, regular measuring and reliable specifications are so important.
To make sure, that a shoe neither pinches nor “flaps around”, small feet should be measured every 2 to 3 months. Because during the 2nd and 3rd year, children’s feet grow by two to three sizes in the course of a year. During the kindergarten and primary school years they grow about another two sizes and after that about one to two sizes.

It is important that the feet are measured both with respect to length and width. The correct shoe length is calculated on the basis of the foot length plus 12 to 15 mm. These in turn are divided into a push and growth space. The push room of 6 to 9 mm ensures that the toes have enough space for unrolling. The growth space of up to 6 mm is a reserve for the growing foot. Thanks to this built-in expansion element, there is no need to buy the shoe a size larger than necessary.
Apart from the length of the shoe, the width too plays a significant role when it comes to the fit. If the foot is slimmer than the shoe, it cannot be supported in the instep area. It slips to the front and is compressed in a similar manner to shoes, which are too short.
The multiple width system WMS (broad, medium, narrow) has long become the standard for good children’s shoes. Together with paediatricians and orthopaedics, Elefanten too were significantly involved in the development of WMS. The WMS foot measuring device easily establishes the exact length and width of a child’s foot. A shoe size established that way guarantees an ideal fit.