The Best Shoes For Kids With Overpronation – Keep Their Feet And Legs Healthy

Have your children been diagnosed with overpronation? Are they complaining that their feet and legs hurt? Do you notice their feet and legs turning inwards or outwards when they walk?

Overpronation in children is more common than you think, but you must take action now if you want to avoid bigger problems in the future. When children overpronate they are putting pressure in parts of their body where they are not supposed to, and this is what leads to foot and leg pain, as well as lower back problems in the future.

The good news is that I will provide you with a selection of the best shoes for kids with overpronation. These are all shoe styles that I have fitted before and that have proven to improve the way a child walks and runs.

I am an expert when it comes to fitting children’s shoes since I have worked at a specialized children’s shoe store for over 10 years now. We specialize in children with foot and leg problems, but we provide regular shoe fittings as well.

If your child is overpronating you must provide him or her with a pair of good supportive shoes. By good supportive shoes I mean shoes that provide good arch and ankle support. For example, most children that are flat footed tend to overpronate, since when they are weight bearing, their feet tend to collapse and turn inwards due to not having an arch to prevent the feet from collapsing.

Look at the picture below, does it look familiar?

Let me prove to you how a pair of shoes with arch support can straighten your child’s feet and legs. Below you will see the difference between a supportive shoes and one that is not. Let’s first take a look at a picture of a girl that is flat footed and suffers from overpronation. Do you notice how her feet are turning inwards?

Now let’s take a look at a picture of the same child wearing a pair supportive shoes. Do you notice how much more straighter her feet are?

Something so simple like providing your child with the correct type of shoes can have a tremendous difference in helping your child walk and run straighter, and improving their overall posture.

But…

A shoe with arch support will prevent your child’s feet from collapsing but overpronation can come from the ankles too. If your child’s ankles are turning inwards or outwards this will lead to your kids’ feet not being straight.

This means that we need to find a shoe that provides good arch support and that also comes with a firm heel counter (this is the back part of the shoe that provides ankle support).

If you are not sure where the heel counter of the shoe is, take a look at the picture below for clarification:

Before you purchase a pair of shoes for your child, always press on the heel counter and make sure it feels firm and not soft. Here is a picture of a shoe with a soft heel counter:

Now let’s take a look at a picture of a child with a firm heel counter:

Orthotics for Kids – When the Shoes are Not the Solution!

Please keep in mind that in certain cases a pair of shoes will not be enough to correct the problem and the child might need extra support. In this case, your kids’ physical or occupational therapist might recommend an orthotic to be fitted inside the shoes for extra support.

Orthotics are shoe inserts that are specifically designed to offer cushioning, support, stability, and relieve pressure in particular areas of the foot. If you start addressing this problem at a young age your child might not need orthotics for the rest of his/ her life.

If your children have been diagnosed with overpronation, the first step is to check the shoes that they are wearing. Something so simple such as providing a good supportive shoe might be all that your child needs.

In this article I will show you a selection of the best kids shoes for overpronation. I will also show you which orthotic has been proven to be most effective in case your child needs a pair of orthotics to be fitted in the shoes.

What Features Must Shoes Provide To Prevent Overpronation?

Every time parents start looking for supportive shoes for their children they start by reading the description of the shoes and are confused by the terminology and don’t know what shoes to choose. Some of the descriptions will say things like: “REVlite foam midsole for added support”, “Midfoot lock down for support”, EVA foam midsole for added cushion” or “softlining with Abzorb cushioned footbed” etc.

I am here to make things easy for you and show you a selection of the best kids shoes for overpronation that I have fitted before. I know the amount of support and quality that these shoes provide by actually fitting them on different children’s feet.

I always explain to parents that there are three important features that their kids’ shoes must provide in order to keep their feet healthy:

✅ Arch support: This will prevent their feet from collapsing and help your child walk and run straighter.

✅ Ankle support: This will help strengthen and align your kids’ ankles.

✅ Shock absorption: This will minimize the impact that your kids’ feet take every time they come in contact with the ground.

If we find a shoe that provides all these three important features, we will be preventing your kids’ feet from collapsing and improve your child’s posture.

The Best Shoes for Kids with Overpronation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

These shoes are available in different widths such as medium, wide, and extra wide, to make sure they will fit any type of feet and also allow room to fit an orthotic in case your child needs to be fitted for one.

You don’t have to pay a lot of money to buy a pair of good, supportive quality shoes. More expensive shoes don’t automatically translate into better shoes for your child.

Please find below a selection of the best kids shoes for overpronation. Disclosure: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases.

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This selection of shoes fit “true to size”, which means that you need to go a half a size longer of the size that your child measures in the standard foot measuring scale (Brannock device) in order to allow for growing room.

If after trying the shoes your physical or occupational therapist feels like your child needs extra support, then you should consider providing your child with an orthotic.

Here is an example of the most effective orthotic that I have fitted before and I know it provides excellent arch and ankle support:

Here you can find the best orthotics for children between the ages of 4 to 9 years old or shoe size 11 to 3.

Ages of 4 to 9 or Shoe Size 11 to 3

Here you can find the best orthotics for older kids, the size “XS” will fit children between a shoe size 3 1/2 to 6.

Size XS fits Children between a Shoe Size 3 1/2 and 6

This orthotic is specifically designed to provide firm arch support and cushioning. It will also provide biomechanics alignment by preventing overpronation and aligning your child’s ankles (making them straighter).

Now that you know which are the best shoes and orthotics for children with overpronation, you are ready to make a better and more informed decision!

Best Shoes for Kids with Overpronation – Watch Video!

The video below will provide you with further examples of before and after images of children with overpronation.I hope this video helps you visualize what a difference the correct type of shoes can make in treating and preventing your child’s overpronation.

Below you can find one of the many conversations I had with a mother of a child that was overpronating and was experiencing foot and leg pain. You might find this conversation helpful since you might be going through the same situation.

Hello Juan,

I came across your website because I have a seven-year-old boy with significant overpronation and excessive tibial torsion. He is anteverted at his hip and has external tibial torsion which I really think is a result of his excessive pronation and very fast growth spurts). Anyhow, he has orthotics already and I have been looking at shoes online. He is in a size 6 to a 6.5 and I am thinking about these shoes since they also provide motion control but have a good cushion.

New Balance Kid Shoe With Support

Can you tell me your thoughts?

He kind of wants the ones below because they come with velcro instead of shoelaces, but I read in one of your articles that we should stay away from velcro? Although, he doesn’t tie his shoes very tight so I am not sure which is best?

New Balance Kid Shoe With Support (Velcro)

Thoughts?

Thanks for your help!

Hello Ruth,

I hope you are well.

If your child won’t be tying his shoelaces PROPERLY, then you should provide him with a pair of velcro shoes. However, please keep in mind that if the shoelaces are tied properly, the shoes will provide more support and more stability (both of these are important to correct overpronation).

Every time a family decides to invest in an orthotic, I always recommend them getting a pair of shoes with shoelaces for their child and taking that extra time to make sure the shoelaces are tied properly.

Both shoe styles that you showed me are good, but the heel counter of the shoes are not one of the most supportive ones. I will recommend that you get him a deep, good supportive shoe with a very firm heel counter. Every time I fit a child in a pair of orthotics, I look for shoes that are deep, supportive, and with shoelaces.

This is one of the best fitting shoes for orthotics:

Supportive Shoe With Arch And Ankle Support (Shoelaces)

I have been fitting that shoe style for 10 years now and I know that it comes with arch and ankle support, and it’s extremely durable. However, if you decide to provide your child with a pair of velcro shoes, the option below would be the one I recommend:

Supportive Shoe With Arch And Ankle Support (Velcro)

Please let me know if this clarifies.

Dear Juan,

Thanks so much!! I bought the pair that comes with shoelaces (we were willing to go to the extra mile and provide our child with the most support), and we are amazed by the difference that it has made! We are so happy to find a shoe that finally works, and the orthotics are not needed since he has been walking and running so much better in these shoes.

I have one more question. I have a 5-year-old girl that is showing some signs of increased tibial torsion on one foot. The PT put her in a short orthotic to control the motion/pronation in her heel for both feet. We have been looking at this shoe because I found one in pink that she likes:

Supportive Shoes For Girls

This is the same shoe style that you recommended in velcro for my son, so I figured it will work but I wanted to make sure.

Would this be a good one for her? Or should I stick to the one you recommended for my son that has shoelaces? I think they have a pink version as well.

Have you come across kids that have excessive external tibial torsion that had good success with correcting their overpronation? I also think wearing Crocs was an issue even though it was only a short time.

I appreciate your help so much!

Hello Ruth,

First of all, I am glad that the shoes worked out for your son. Like I said before, sometimes a good supportive shoe is all the child needs to correct the overpronation issue (keep in mind that in most cases children do need an orthotic).

When it comes to your daughter issue, I would strongly recommend that you provide her with the same shoe style as your son (KJ990 with shoelaces), and you should also try an orthotic for her. This one specifically:

KidSole Orthotics For External Tibial Torsion

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Also, I have a 9-year-old going into a 10 men’s shoe. What would be a decent shoe for him? He does not have arch issue. He’s pretty neutral with normal tibial torsion and no orthotics.

Do you happen to know of any decent shoe stores in the Indianapolis area?

Thanks for your help!

Hi again…

I forgot to mention that I ordered this before I found your website:

Supportive Shoes For Boys In Men Sizes

What are your thoughts? If these aren’t very good, I’d love any advice you may have. He’s 9 years old, neutral arch, medium foot, size 10 men’s. No issues structural issues like his brother.

Hello Ruth.

Those are actually one of the most supportive shoes I have fitted for boys in men sizes, so he should be good. Keep an eye on him and always ask your children how their shoes feel.

I hope you had found this article useful and that the experiences of other parents can help in your case. Feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section below.