Kids’ Shoes that Improve Posture – Straighten your Kids’ Feet and Legs!

Have you noticed your child walking and running differently lately? Children with foot conditions such as flat feet or rolled ankles tend to walk with their feet and legs turning inwards. These children are putting pressure on parts of their bodies where they are not supposed to, which usually leads to foot, leg, and back pain. This has a direct impact on your child’s spine and posture. I am going to show you a list of kids’ shoes that improve posture based on my many years of shoe fitting experience.

Do you want to know the most effective way to improve your child’s posture? It all starts by taking care of your child’s feet! The feet are the foundation for our entire body, and the correct types of shoes can help prevent children’s feet from collapsing, allowing them to walk and run straighter.

Keep in mind that your kids’ shoes must provide 2 important features to prevent your child’s feet from collapsing. The shoes must come with a substantial outsole and a firm heel counter to provide arch and ankle support. In addition, the shoes must fit the shape of your child’s feet perfectly – narrow, medium, wide, extra wide. There is a very small selection of shoes that provide those 2 features, but the good news is that I will help you find them.

Did you know that the correct type of shoes can provide biomechanical balance and improve your child’s posture by aligning your child’s feet, legs, and shoulders? Don’t take my word for it, let me prove it to you!

Improving Your Child’s Posture – Before and After Images

Let’s take a look at an image of a flat-footed child standing barefoot.

Now let’s take a look at an image of the same child wearing a pair of unsupportive shoes. Do you notice how the child’s feet are still collapsing and turning inwards?

child-with-flat-feet-wearing-unsupportive-shoes

The last image shows the same child wearing a pair of supportive shoes. Do you notice how a substantial shoe with good arch and heel support is helping align the child’s feet and legs? This will allow your child to walk and run straighter.

supportive-shoes-with-straight-lasts-for-children-with-flat-feet

I will show you a selection of the most supportive children’s shoes that will help straighten your kids’ feet and legs and improve your child’s overall posture shortly. However, let me first dig a little bit deeper into the features that the shoes I recommend provide and show you how you can figure out your child’s exact foot size from home.

Shoes to Improve Your Child’s Posture – 3 Important Features!

To improve your children’s posture and help them walk and run straighter the shoes must provide the following features:

1️⃣ Arch Support: Your kids’ shoes must provide a substantial outsole with arch support to provide shock absorption and minimize the impact that your kids’ feet and legs take every time they become in contact with the ground. The arch support is also going to help prevent your child’s feet from collapsing and turning inwards. Below you can see the difference between a shoe with a substantial sole versus a shoe with a sole that is too thin and doesn’t provide the correct amount of support:

supportive-shoes-for-children-with-flat-feet

2️⃣ Ankle Support: Some parents believe that having flat feet is the only reason why children’s feet collapse, but your kids’ posture can also be affected by having rolled ankles. A shoe with ankle support helps straighten the ankles, improving the child’s walking and running gait. Always look for shoes that come with a firm heel counter, which is the part of the shoes that provides ankle support. If you are unsure about where the heel counter of the shoe is located, take a look at the picture below for clarification:

children's-shoes-with-heel-support

3️⃣ Straight Lasts: This feature helps prevent the forefoot from pushing out. You need to stay away from shoes that have an excessively curved last as they lack heel stability. Most Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour shoes come with a curved or semi-curved last. Take a look at the image below for better visualization purposes:

children's-shoes-with-straight-lasts

We need to find a shoe style that provides all of the features mentioned above, and the shoes must be lightweight and flexible as well.

Keep in mind that I only write reviews of shoes that I have fitted before, otherwise, I wouldn’t know how well-made they are, the amount of support that they provide, and how they fit. Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links and we may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) when you click our links and make purchases.

The Best Kids’ Shoes that Improve Posture

Below you can find a selection of the best kids’ shoes that improve posture, and these shoes are available in medium (M), wide (W), and extra wide (XW) widths. 

Notice how most of these shoes are available in shoelaces, since shoelaces provide better support and stability than velcro closure.

Not sure what your child’s foot size is to begin with? Let me help you figure it out.

Are you 100% Sure of Your Child’s Foot Size? – Let’s Find Out!

I am always emphasizing to parents that it doesn’t matter how many features a particular shoe style provides, if the shoes are not fitted properly which involves getting the correct shoe length and the correct shoe width, your child won’t get any of the benefits that the shoes have to offer.

I always recommend parents take their children to their local children’s shoe store that they trust, the issue is that most stores have been closing down and parents need to end up buying their kids’ shoes online. There is nothing wrong with this, but you must know your child’s exact foot size to know what size to order.

I created a resource that showcases the best-fitting children’s shoe stores by state.

How to Retrieve Your Child’s Exact Foot Length and Shape

If after looking at that resource you still can’t seem to identify a shoe store in your area, then proceed to take a look at an article I created that describes the simplest, yet most effective way to figure out your child’s foot size from home.

These are the most supportive shoes that provide arch and ankle support. Please keep in mind that sometimes a pair of good supportive shoes might not be enough to correct your child walking gait. In those cases, your child might need an orthotic to be fitted inside the shoes.

The good news is that if you need to fit an orthotic inside your kids’ shoes, all of the shoes that I described above are capable of accommodating an orthotic.

The 3 Benefits of Wearing Orthotics – Extra Support and Stability!

Do you know what an orthotic is? An orthotic is basically a shoe insert that is specifically designed to provide cushioning, support, stability, and relief pressure areas of the foot. The shoes and the orthotics work together in improving your child’s walking gait.

These are the 3 benefits that the orthotics I recommend provide:

1️⃣ Improve and correct your child’s foot position. They also help improve the alignment of the ankles, knees, hips, and lower back, because everything is connected together in a biomechanical chain.

2️⃣ Provide extra cushion, support, stability, and/or relief to pressure areas of the foot.

3️⃣ Absorb the impact that your child’s feet and legs take every time they come in contact with the ground.

Take a look at the picture below of a flat-footed child. Notice how this child’s feet collapse when being barefoot and putting pressure on the feet:

Now notice how much straighter the child’s feet are when standing in a pair of orthotics. The orthotics are preventing the child’s feet from collapsing and turning inwards:

supportive-insoles-for-kids-with-flat-feet

Let’s take a look at which is the best orthotic for children that are overpronating due to being flat-footed, having rolled ankles, or having low muscle tone.

The Best Orthotic for Kids – Help your Child Walk and Run Straighter!

I want to clarify that orthotics should only be used for children when symptoms related to foot, and leg function are evident, and they are experiencing foot or leg pain.

Through my 10 years of fitting children’s shoes and orthotics, I have had the opportunity of fitting hundreds of children in orthotics and I can tell you with confidence that 90% of the time we experience a positive impact in the way the child walked and ran. They are also extremely efficient in reducing or fully eliminating your child’s foot and leg pain.

How to Fit Orthotics in Shoes – Fitting Them the Correct Way!

Follow the steps below to make sure the orthotics fit properly inside your kids’ shoes:

1️⃣ Make sure that the shoe has a removable insole – all the shoes that I recommended above come with a removable insole. The main reason for this is that if we don’t remove the original insoles of the shoes, you will be raising your kids’ feet, giving your child  the impression that the feet are coming out of the shoes.

2️⃣ The second step is to make sure that the shoes provide good support and structure – all the shoes that I recommend above match this criteria. Most parents obviate the importance of having a shoe that comes with a firm heel counter – back of the shoe that provides ankle support.

The image below shows the difference between a shoe with a soft heel counter versus a shoe with a firm heel counter:

children's-shoes-with-heel-support

3️⃣ Make sure that the shoes are deep enough for the orthotic to fit deeply inside the shoes, otherwise, it will raise your kids’ feet and give your child the impression that the feet are coming out of the shoe – all of the shoes described above provide extra depth. Let’s visualize what a difference a pair of shoes with extra depth can make when fitting an orthotic inside the shoes. Do you notice how much deeper the orthotic is fitting in the New Balance shoe style (image on the right) compared to the shoe on the left image?

4️⃣ The shoes must be wide enough to accommodate the orthotic. If the shoes are not wide enough your child will complain that the shoes feel too tight, and you will notice indentations and red marks along your child’s pinky toe (small toe). In addition, if the shoes are too narrow, the orthotic might end up making a hole through the shoe. Let’s take a look at an example of an orthotic fitted in a shoe that is too narrow.

The constant friction between the orthotic and the shoe might lead to the shoes wearing out faster than expected.

Now that you know which are the best shoes and orthotics to improve your child’s posture, you are ready to provide relief to your children’s feet and help them walk and run straighter.

Looking for Other Shoe Recommendations?

Do not hesitate to contact me directly at my e-mail if you have any further questions or if you need a different pair of shoes for your child. My e-mail address is:

fittingchildrensshoes@gmail.com

If you happen to have a good children’s shoe store in your area please let us know in the comments section below so other parents can benefit from your experiences.