Health Focus: Walking Barefoot

I love walking barefoot, especially after a long day having to put on shoes and feeling restrained. But why does it always feel good to walk barefoot?

I have been thinking long and hard about this. The main reason for contemplating this is that my four year old and 2 year old refuses to wear shoes. It is a huge fight to even put on socks during the cold months, never mind shoes. So basically they each have two sets of shoes in their cupboards: One for church and one set of gumboots to wear to those places on the farm where they cannot walk barefoot. Not that, that bothers them much.

What are the benefits for children to walk barefoot.

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Walking barefoot helps to develop proprioception

Proprioception is the ability to be aware where your body is in space. It is also known as body awareness.

Our feet are full of nerve endings which helps our whole body to be aware where we are. In the bottom diagram you can also see that almost your whole body can be treated by the nerve endings in your feet.

By walking barefoot children develop a natural and healthy gait.

If children walk barefoot their feet are granted the appropriate time to develop to it's natural form. But we force there feet into shoes so the result is that their feet conform to the shape of the shoes they wear. The bones of children are cartilage and they only fully ossifies when they are in there late teenage years, then the 28 bones are fully ossified.

It strengthens their feet and their bodies.

When walking barefoot our feet muscles are strengthen and in return our body posture is improved and strenghtened.

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It improves safety

When we walk barefoot we tend to step lightly and will in return be aware when something isn't right, when you can hurt yourself (step in a piece of glass). In return they can then react a lot quicker to the situation. It has also been shown that children who walk barefoot are less clumsy and less likely to trip.

It provides a direct connection to our environment

We all tend to feel better when we take a walk in nature and that is the same for barefoot walking children. When running around and walking outside they gain an energy, an extra breath of life if you want to put it like that. They feel they are free; that they are wrong.