{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,5]],"date-time":"2026-11-05T19:34:30Z","timestamp":1793907270557,"version":"4.8.0"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2006,8,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>OBJECTIVES. Our aim with this study was to establish the prevalence of flat foot in a population of 3- to 6-year-old children to evaluate cofactors such as age, weight, and gender and to estimate the number of unnecessary treatments performed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>METHODS. A total of 835 children (411 girls and 424 boys) were included in this study. The clinical diagnosis of flat foot was based on a valgus position of the heel and a poor formation of the arch. Feet of the children were scanned (while they were in a standing position) by using a laser surface scanner, and rearfoot angle was measured. Rearfoot angle was defined as the angle of the upper Achilles tendon and the distal extension of the rearfoot.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>RESULTS. Prevalence of flexible flat foot in the group of 3- to 6-year-old children was 44%. Prevalence of pathological flat foot was &amp;lt;1%. Ten percent of the children were wearing arch supports. The prevalence of flat foot decreases significantly with age: in the group of 3-year-old children 54% showed a flat foot, whereas in the group of 6-year-old children only 24% had a flat foot. Average rearfoot angle was 5.5\u00b0 of valgus. Boys had a significant greater tendency for flat foot than girls: the prevalence of flat foot in boys was 52% and 36% in girls. Thirteen percent of the children were overweight or obese. Significant differences in prevalence of flat foot between overweight, obese, and normal-weight children were observed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>CONCLUSIONS. This study is the first to use a three-dimensional laser surface scanner to measure the rearfoot valgus in preschool-aged children. The data demonstrate that the prevalence of flat foot is influenced by 3 factors: age, gender, and weight. In overweight children and in boys, a highly significant prevalence of flat foot was observed; in addition, a retarded development of the medial arch in the boys was discovered. At the time of the study, &amp;gt;90% of the treatments were unnecessary.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2005-2126","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2006,8,2]],"date-time":"2006-08-02T13:07:56Z","timestamp":1154524076000},"page":"634-639","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":416,"title":["Prevalence of Flat Foot in Preschool-Aged Children"],"prefix":"10.1542","volume":"118","author":[{"given":"Martin","family":"Pfeiffer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rainer","family":"Kotz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Ledl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Scientific Computing, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gertrude","family":"Hauser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Sluga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"417","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2006,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021120822433456600_R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Volpon JB. Footprint analysis during the growth period. J Pediatr Orthop.\u20081994;14:83\u201385","DOI":"10.1097\/01241398-199401000-00017"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rao UB, Joseph B. The influence of footwear on the prevalence of flat foot: a survey of 2300 children. J Bone Joint Surg Br.\u20081992;74:525\u2013527","DOI":"10.1302\/0301-620X.74B4.1624509"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Forriol F, Pascual J. Footprint analysis between three and seventeen years of age. Foot Ankle.\u20081990;11:101\u2013104","DOI":"10.1177\/107110079001100208"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Staheli L. Planovalgus foot deformity: current status. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc.\u20081999;89:94\u201399","DOI":"10.7547\/87507315-89-2-94"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hefti F, Brunner R. Flatfoot [in German]. Orthopade.\u20081999;28:159\u2013172","DOI":"10.1007\/PL00003593"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wenger DR, Mauldin D, Speck G, Morgan D, Lieber RL. Corrective shoes and inserts as treatment for flexible flatfoot in infants and children. J Bone Joint Surg Am.\u20081989;71:800\u2013810","DOI":"10.2106\/00004623-198971060-00002"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schilling FW. The medial longitudinal arch of the foot in young children [in German]. Z Orthop Ihre Grenzgeb.\u20081985;123:296\u2013299","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2008-1045154"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Garcia-Rodriguez A, Martin-Jimenez F, Carnero-Varo M, Gomez-Gracia E, Gomez-Aracena J, Fernandez-Crehuet J. Flexible flat feet in children: a real problem?Pediatrics.\u20081999;103(6). Available at: www.pediatrics.org\/cgi\/content\/full\/103\/6\/e84","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.103.6.e84"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R9","unstructured":"Deutsche Gesellschaft fu\u0308r Orthopa\u0308die und Orthopa\u0308dische Chirurgie. Leitlinien der Orthopa\u0308die. Vol 2. Ko\u0308ln, Germany: Dt A\u0308rzte-Verlag; 2002"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R10","unstructured":"Schmitz A, Gaebel H, Schmitt O. Foot shape and shoe wear: a 3-D study [in German]. Orthopaedische Prax.\u20082001;9:609\u2013612"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kromeyer-Hausschild K, Wabitsch M, Kunze D, et al. Percentiles of body mass index in children and adolescents evaluated from different regional German studies [in German]. Monatsschr Kinderheilkd.\u20082001;149:807\u2013818","DOI":"10.1007\/s001120170107"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Echarri JJ, Forriol F. The development in footprint morphology in 1851 Congolese children from urban and rural areas, and the relationship between this and wearing shoes. J Pediatr Orthop B.\u20082003;12:141\u2013146","DOI":"10.1097\/01202412-200303000-00012"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lin CJ, Lai KA, Kuan TS, Chou YL. Correlating factors and clinical significance of flexible flatfoot in preschool children. J Pediatr Orthop.\u20082001;21:378\u2013382","DOI":"10.1097\/01241398-200105000-00022"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rose GK, Welton EA, Marshall T. The diagnosis of flat foot in the child. J Bone Joint Surg Br.\u20081985;67:71\u201378","DOI":"10.1302\/0301-620X.67B1.3968149"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wearing S, Hills A, Byrne N, Henning E, McDonald M. The arch index: a measure of flat or fat feet. Foot Ankle Int.\u20082004;25:575\u2013581","DOI":"10.1177\/107110070402500811"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sobel E, Levitz S, Caselli M, Brentnall Z, Tran MQ. Natural history of the rearfoot angle: preliminary values in 150 children. Foot Ankle Int.\u20081999;20:119\u2013125","DOI":"10.1177\/107110079902000209"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dowling AM, Steele JR, Baur LA. Does obesity influence foot structure and plantar pressure patterns in prepubescent children?Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord.\u20082001;25:845\u2013852","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.ijo.0801598"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R18","unstructured":"Bordin D, Giorgi GD, Mazzocco G, Rigon F. Flat and cavus foot, indexes of obesity and overweight in a population of primary-school children [in English, Italian]. Minerva Pediatr.\u20082001;53:7\u201313"},{"key":"2021120822433456600_R19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sachithanandam V, Joseph B. The influence of footwear on the prevalence of flat foot: a survey of 1846 skeletally mature persons. J Bone Joint Surg Br.\u20081995;77:254\u2013257","DOI":"10.1302\/0301-620X.77B2.7706341"}],"container-title":["Pediatrics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/publications.aap.org\/pediatrics\/article-pdf\/118\/2\/634\/1073571\/zpe00806000634.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/publications.aap.org\/pediatrics\/article-pdf\/118\/2\/634\/1073571\/zpe00806000634.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,8]],"date-time":"2021-12-08T21:33:19Z","timestamp":1638999199000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/publications.aap.org\/pediatrics\/article\/118\/2\/634\/69069\/Prevalence-of-Flat-Foot-in-Preschool-Aged-Children"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2006,8,1]]},"references-count":19,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2006,8,1]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2006,8,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1542\/peds.2005-2126","relation":{},"ISSN":["0031-4005","1098-4275"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0031-4005","type":"print"},{"value":"1098-4275","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2006,8,1]]}}}