High Heels Okay in Moderation

4 July 2006

High Heels Okay in Moderation

A leading international podiatrist and world renowned researcher in podiatric clinical biomechanics, currently visiting New Zealand, has stated that women can wear high heel shoes but only in moderation.

Professor Keith Rome who is in New Zealand to meet with the country’s leading shoe manufacturer Kumfs, said women could achieve a balance between wearing and not wearing high heels.

“If an individual wears adequate shoes during the day and high heels only for evening outings or other social engagements they may not go on to experience back and postural problems in later life,” he said.

Professor Rome said the definition of an ‘adequate’ shoe depended on the individual and could range from a flat shoe through to one that has a moderate heel.

“However, for those people who wear high heels from a young age and continuously do so throughout their lives, they have a much higher risk of experiencing adverse reactions including foot, ankle, knee, hip and lower back problems.”

Professor Rome who works at the University of Teesside in the United Kingdom and is an adjunct professor at AUT University in the School of Podiatry has overseen studies by Masters students into high heel wearing. He has also been conducting detailed research and clinical trials into the use of insoles/shoes and their impact on older people and people who have severe arthritis.
The results of two separate studies carried out by Professor Rome and his research team in the United Kingdom will be published in the coming months with one due to appear in the Journal of Rheumatology and the other in Gait & Posture.

While in New Zealand, he met with Kumfs representatives to discuss ways that he could assist the organisation in a professional capacity, as well as possible collaborative research opportunities with AUT
University.

ends

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