Introduction

According to Greek mythology, the hero Achilles was said to have been dipped head first in the magical River Styx by his mother, thus making almost his entire body invulnerable to injury wherever the water touched. However, since his mother held him by his heels, as the story goes, the tendon at the back of his heel became his only weak spot and eventually lead to his demise.

From birth, every parent is concerned about his or her child’s feet. In fact, we usually breathe a sigh of relief when we find out that our baby has all ten fingers and all ten toes. We watch in both awe and wonder as our children grow and develop, especially during the first few years of life. Many times we are like Achilles’ mother, doing everything in our power to insure that our children remain healthy and develop normally. However, “normalcy” is difficult to define when it comes to the child’s ability to walk, especially in light of all of the changes that occur during development. This is complicated by the fact that parents are often confused when it comes to “normal” foot development due to conflicting advice from grandparents, family, well-meaning neighbors, general pediatricians, orthopedic doctors, chiropractors, and podiatrists.

The purpose of this article is to offer parents insight into what is “normal” and “abnormal” in regards to a child’s foot health, and to help answer one of the most common questions heard among the pediatric medical community, “Is my child walking the right way?”