Are our feet getting wider?

The short answer is yes. Not only has the average foot increased by two sizes in the last forty years (The average for Australian women is now size 9). Our feet have become more splayed, flattening out as we humans get taller and larger (and heavier).

In addition to this our feet also widen with age, no you are not imagining it. According to leading Podiatrists, the culprit is our worn-out ligaments. After bouncing back time and time again in our youth, much like the rest of our bodies, after forty our ligaments are not what they used to be. Without their support to the bones and muscles in our tootsies, our arches gradually collapse. This can create a further jump of a size or two. Quite dramatic really.

The most alarming fact in this foot-size phenomenon is that over half the women in the western world admit to intentionally buying shoes that do not fit properly. Choosing to force their poor fallen arches into narrow and constricting styles in the name of fashion. We really are gluttons for punishment.

In this case, the punishment comes in the form of blisters, calluses, corns and if you are really lucky……a nice set of bunions!