[Foot deformities and relation to the length of leg muscles in Danish children aged 3-17 years].

Seven hundred and sixty-nine children and adolescents from three to seventeen years of age, being 98% of the pupils in different classes in seven schools and ten kindergartens on Funen, Denmark, were examined in 1991. The Triceps Surae muscle was found to be too short, if the corrected foot can only be pressed slowly to the right angle. The 1520 footprints showed an increase in the number of highly-arched feet through the age groups from 2.3% to 7.3% and a decrease in flat-footedness from 41.8% to 5.7%. In the two oldest age groups, 39% of those with a high arch, 56% of those with a normal arch and 77% of those with flat feet had short calf muscles. We therefore conclude, that it is necessary that a few minutes be spent daily in Danish kindergartens and schools on stretching the triceps surae.