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66
Hallux Valgus 2,557
Tinea 136
Number of children treated by the
chiropodists 592
During the year a report was published by one of my
Assistant Medical Officers of a survey of retail shoe
shops in the Borough. We have long realised that not only
must school children be persuaded of the need for suitable
shoes but these must be readily available in the shops.
The survey which deals with this problem has been reproduced
below by kind permission of the Editor of "The
British Medical Journal".
SHOES FOR CHILDREN
A Survey of Retail Shoe Shops in the Borough of Ealing
By Catherine Hollman, MCBD,ObsteR C,0 G=„ Assistant
Medical Officer, Middlesex County Council Area No; 7,
Doctors and health workers can readily describe
suitable designs of children's shoes which promote the
growth of healthy feet, but are these shoes in fact to
be obtained in the shops? Parents tell of the difficulty
experienced in finding shoes of correct style
and size, but how true is this? and to what extent can
the blame be with the manufacturers for not making
such shoes, or with the retailers for not stocking
them? If the retailers have them, do they stock a
sufficient range of sizes and fittings? How often do
the retailers stock other girls' shoes of inferior
design as, for example, the fashionable casual style?
Again, if well-designed shoes are stocked in the shoeshops,
is it the fitting by the assistants that is at
fault? Can it be that the poorly designed shoes are
cheaper than the well-fitting ones?
To try to find the answer to some of these questions,
an inquiry, by means of a questionary, was made
in the Borough of Ealing during the period January-June,
1958, Ealing has long been concerned about the damage
done to children's feet by ill-fitting shoes, and has
produced much valuable and original research in the
past 10 yearso Surveys carried out by Dr, D A, Craigmile
in Ealing revealed the incidence and variety of foot
defects in children, many of which are known to cause
foot pain in adults* The Ealing Contributory Shoe
Scheme clearly showed that many of these acquired foot
defects can be cured or improved by well-fitting shoes
alone, At the present time in this area a foot health
nurse visits the schools, inspects the children's feet3
and records her findings,. Children with early foot
defects and in need of advice are asked to attend the
foot clinics at which the particular problem can be
discussed with the parents* Ealing can thus be regarded
as having a high standard of foot care
In this inquiry the visits to the shoe~shops were
carried out by the foot health nurse and myself only
in order to keep the personal error as small as possible.
The questionary was completed in each case by
one of us in the shop at the time of the interview
with the manager, who was on the itfiole most interested
and helpful Occasionally the manager thought he should