Analysis of Foot Characteristics According to the Classification of Foot Types of Junior High School Girls

The health of feet is connected with individual's health and affects a man's activity. Shoes need to be designed to protect feet and to absorb the impact of land. In order to choose suitable shoes for feet, the foot size and shape must be considered, so it is essential to grasp the exact size and shape of the foot. This study aims to present fundamental data on shoes' easy order prototype development for choosing shoes of good wearing comfort, by classifying feet size and shape junior high school boys in the early adolescent period. The subject were 217 Korean junior high school girls in age from 14 to 16 years old. The subjects were directly measured anthropometrically and indirectly analyzed photographically. 7 factors were extracted through factor analysis and those factors comprised 78.59% of total variance. The factors were characterized foot length, foot girth and width, foot shape around the fifth toes, foot shape around the first toes, angle of foot breadth, foot height, and foot length of upper foot. 3 clusters as their foot shape were categorized using 7 factor scores by cluster analysis. Type 1 had smaller in foot girth, width and length than other types and with deformed fifth toe. Type 2 had average size and high foot shape. Type 3 was characterized by long large foot with deformed first toe. The results would be a great support in producing and choosing appropriate shoes if forms are classified by subdividing foot form classification and extract a factor which shows only the foot sole shape.