Prevalence of flatfoot among school students and its relationship with BMI

The aim of this study was to analyze the relation between the flat-footedness and obesity.

A total of 1158 school children (653 male and 505 female) participated in this cross sectional descriptive study. According to their age, children were divided into three groups for each gender (6-10, 11-13, 14-18 years old). Diagnosis and severity of flatfoot was assessed in using the Dennis method. BMI of children were calculated as body weight divided by height squared (kg*m^-2).

Majority (83.9%) of respondents had normal feet. The prevalence of flatfoot was 16.1% with a decreasing trend with age. Boys had a higher frequency of flatfoot than girls; however the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). The prevalence of flatfoot was 17.5% in boys and 14.5% in girls. The percentage of overweight and obese children was 10.3%. A significant difference in the prevalence of flatfoot occurred between; under-weight (13.9%), normal-weight (16.1%), overweight (26.9%), and obese (30.8%); children.

The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity is one of the most serious health challenges across the globe, and a positive correlation between increased BMI; and flatfoot is one of the potential complications.