[Does a Physical Education lesson affect the foot morphology in school-aged children?]

To analyze the changes in foot morphology in school-age children, after a Physical Education lesson.

A total of 10 school-age children (5 girls and 5 boys) were recruited with a mean age of 9.3 ± 0.5 years that voluntary participated in this study. Measurements of both feet were obtained using a 3D foot digitizer model IFU-S-01 (Japan) in two different moments, before and after a physical education lesson (per-exercise and post-exercise), where different activities involving displacements, jumps and landings were performed.

By comparing foot morphology before and after exercise, significant differences in the arch height were found, which increased after exercise (p<0.05). The ball width shows greater changes after exercise but without significant differences (p= 0.07; effect size [ES] = 0.2). Furthermore, a positive correlation between the ball width and the arch height (p<0.05) and negative correlation between the distance from the heel to the first metatarsal and the ball width (r = - 0.7; p<0.05), were observed.

The type of activities undertaken during physical education lesson (displacements, jumps and landings) increased the pressure on the forefoot, which would lead to a lager arch height. Development of children's sport footwear systems should take into account the foot lengths, widths and heights, for a better fit, preventing future musculoskeletal injuries.