Tudor Anton, Ruzic Lana, Sestan Branko, Sirola Luka, Prpic Tomislav
University of Zagreb, School of Kinesiology, Horvacanski zavoj 15, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Pediatrics. 2009 Mar;123(3):e386-92. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-2262.
Because the controversy about the relation of foot morphology and foot function is still present, we find it surprising that there are no studies published dealing with motor skills and athletic performance in flat-footed school children. Our aim in this study was to determine if there is an association between the degree of foot flatness and several motor skills that are necessary for sport performance.
The feet of 218 children aged 11 to 15 years were scanned, and the arch index was determined. The value of the arch index was corrected for the influence of age, and then the entire sample was categorized into 4 groups according to the flatness of their feet. The children were tested for eccentric-concentric contraction and hopping on a Kistler force platform, speed-coordination polygon (Newtest system), balance (3 tests), toe flexion (textile crunching), tiptoe standing angle, and repetitive leg movements. Altogether, 17 measures of athletic performance were measured.
No significant correlations between the arch height and 17 motor skills were found. Categorizing the sample into 4 groups did not reveal any differences between the groups in athletic performance. Also, several multivariate analysis of variance sets of multiple independent variables referring to a particular motor ability were not found to be significant. The differences were not found even after comparing only the 2 extreme groups, meaning children with very low and children with very high arches.
No disadvantages in sport performance originating from flat-footedness were confirmed. Children with flat and children with "normal" feet were equally successful at accomplishing all motor tests; thus, we suggest that there is no need for treatment of flexible flat feet with the sole purpose of improving athletic performance, as traditionally advised by many.
由于足部形态与足部功能之间的关系仍存在争议，我们惊讶地发现，尚无关于扁平足学龄儿童运动技能和运动表现的研究发表。本研究的目的是确定足部扁平程度与运动表现所需的几种运动技能之间是否存在关联。
对218名11至15岁儿童的足部进行扫描，并确定足弓指数。对足弓指数的值进行年龄影响校正，然后根据足部扁平程度将整个样本分为4组。在奇石乐测力平台上对儿童进行离心-向心收缩和单脚跳测试、速度-协调多边形测试（Newtest系统）、平衡测试（3项测试）、脚趾屈曲测试（纺织物挤压）、踮脚尖站立角度测试和重复性腿部运动测试。总共测量了17项运动表现指标。
未发现足弓高度与17项运动技能之间存在显著相关性。将样本分为4组后，未发现各组在运动表现上存在差异。此外，针对特定运动能力的多个自变量的几组多变量方差分析也未发现显著差异。即使仅比较两个极端组，即足弓非常低的儿童和足弓非常高的儿童，也未发现差异。
未证实扁平足会对运动表现产生不利影响。扁平足儿童和“正常”足儿童在完成所有运动测试方面同样成功；因此，我们建议，如许多人传统上所建议的，仅为提高运动表现而治疗柔韧性扁平足是没有必要的。
