Foot size and balancing – a link?

Doctoral student Hai Qiu and professor Shuping Xiong of the Ergonomics and Applied Biomechanics Lab at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Korea, have recently been investigating ‘The Influence of Foot Sizes on Human Balance’

“This study investigated the relationship between foot size and human balance performance. The balance performances of 30 female subjects (15 young, 15 elderly) were assessed by a force platform system.”

The experimental study found that participants with larger feet were not so prone to swaying than those whose feet were less generously proportioned.

“In general, the bigger the foot size, the lower mean sway velocity and the bigger the normalized foot size, the higher balance strategy score (more ankle strategy), especially for the young group.“

The paper is published in : Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, September 2013 vol. 57 no. 1 pp. 920-924