A study of the prevalence of flatfoot in high school children

Introduction: Although the exact the prevalence of flatfoot in children is not known well, it seems that flatfoot is the most common orthopedic issue seen in pediatrics. Method: 400 high school students were randomly selected from Marvdasht's high schools. Individuals who do not have foot arch while standing are considered as flatfeet and those for whom jack test becomes negative, who have the lack of flatness of feet arch while raising hallux, are considered as hard feet. Results: 377 individuals had normal feet, 13 individuals had flexible flat feet and 10 individuals had hard flat feet. The prevalence of flexible and hard feet was 4 and 2 in males and 6 and 11 in females in high school age respectively. The number of normal weight in flexible feet group is higher compared to rigid feet group and no significant difference is seen in terms of BMI and family history in the two groups of flat feet. Discussion and conclusion: the prevalence of flat feet is relatively lower in individuals ages 14-18 years old and this is probably because the age of the individuals is higher which indicates the theory that cases of flat feet are resolved when age is increased and the individual reaches puberty.