Kids running shoes

How old are your kids? Are we talking about Elementary school age or college age?

Kids running shoes are an even bigger failure than adult running shoes. Every last bit of credible research says that kids should be in something roomy and extremely flexible in order for the feet to grow properly. Unfortunately the consumer is not educated enough and the footwear companies are not responible enough to make functional kids footwear. Kids running shoes are essentially miniature versions of adult running shoes, made with cheaper materials. Many kids shoes even have medial posting! This is small scale foot binding (google it) although not as extreme. Kids footwear is what has placed us in the current situation we are in now...weak foot muscles, poor posture, and a dependency on shoes to complete one of the simplest most primal activities of man.

For the sake of your childrens health place them in as minimal/flexible a shoe as possible. Let them be barefoot around the house constantly.

I would be interested to hear from some of the so called experts on this important subject. Your silence often says more than your words.

You know what gets me is the parents taking their 6 year old kids to the podiatrist to get fitted for orthotics because of an ankle sprain. Talk about a set up for a lifetime of problems. Oy vey. That's totally off-subject though.

But I second what the above poster said. I manage a running store so I'm not a pro-minimalist-vibram-five-fingers-junkie, BUT I do say that kids don't need anything fancy to run in. For one thing, they don't usually even run enough to warrant needing much, and their mechanics are usually much better than their adult counterparts, plus they aren't finished growing so things will change a lot. If your kid wants to run in their Chuck Taylors, fine. We sell running shoes for kids, but I usually steer parents away from investing in them.

ShoeDude - At what point do you recommend kids have regular running shoes? Middle school track athletes? High school?

ShoeDude wrote:

You know what gets me is the parents taking their 6 year old kids to the podiatrist to get fitted for orthotics because of an ankle sprain. Talk about a set up for a lifetime of problems. Oy vey. That's totally off-subject though.

But I second what the above poster said. I manage a running store so I'm not a pro-minimalist-vibram-five-fingers-junkie, BUT I do say that kids don't need anything fancy to run in. For one thing, they don't usually even run enough to warrant needing much, and their mechanics are usually much better than their adult counterparts, plus they aren't finished growing so things will change a lot. If your kid wants to run in their Chuck Taylors, fine. We sell running shoes for kids, but I usually steer parents away from investing in them.

At some point the major footwear brands are going to have to answer to this. Look at any brands kids shoes and you'll see they are just take downs I the adult shoes. This shows a complete lack of understanding of childrens biomechanics. And people wonder why extreme minalists cry conspiracy theory!

I would say that once a kid starts exceeding about 20 miles per week and training more than about 6 months out of the year, it's probably okay to get them some running shoes. Usually Jr. High kids (at least our kids around here) training for the mile in track and XC in fall only hit around 15-20 a week in their season, and rarely run much in off-season, and they're usually fine in their sketchers or whatever. Once they're in high school I'd say get them some shoes for sure. As far as how much wear you can put on them, it depends on the kid. When they're growing a lot, you might have to get them a new pair every three months just to keep them from growing out of them. If not then, a pair could easily last them the whole season, if not more. I don't claim to know all though. If your kid is elementary school and junior high age then I wouldn't worry too much about running shoes. Just normal cross trainers or tennis shoes are fine. Just my opinion.

I'd get them some trail shoes they think look cool.

Just to drop my two cents...I've got two children under 15 how join me on runs between 2 and 5 miles on occasion. They enjoy biking along with me on longer runs as well. I have them in simple $40 new balance trail shoes with very moderate cushioning.

More important than shoe-type is the running surface they run on. I almost always run on grass or dirt trails with them. It's more fun(and safe) for us to look at wildlife and talk while we run, than worrying about traffic and the pounding those little legs are taking.

Todd Lerma wrote:

What are the best running shoes for kids? How often should I get my kid a new pair of shoes?

I'm glad you posted this. Check out stride rite for some decent kids shoes. We can debate the whole minimalism thing all day but when it comes to kids with growing feet there is no debate. The Brooks guy can talk about biomechanically mapped and loving running all he wants but their kids "running" shoes completely debunk that claim. I'm all for people wearing whatever they want, but it's simply wrong to place kids in these stiff, restrictive shoes.

Children are our future. Until these companies address this they have zero credibility to me. Acting like the latest shoe support gimmick is changing running for the better while ignoring childrens footwear shows how little of a concern companies like Brooks really have for our sport.

It is widely acknowledged that PART of the reason for Kenyan dominance is that they are barefoot so often as kids. One would hope these so called running experts at the shoe companies would acknowledge and address this. Now can you see how much damage they have caused to American distance running?

It is widely acknowledged that PART of the reason for Kenyan dominance is that they are barefoot so often as kids. One would hope these so called running experts at the shoe companies would acknowledge and address this. Now can you see how much damage they have caused to American distance running?

Widely acknowledged? Any citations?

runtherockies wrote:

It is widely acknowledged that PART of the reason for Kenyan dominance is that they are barefoot so often as kids. One would hope these so called running experts at the shoe companies would acknowledge and address this. Now can you see how much damage they have caused to American distance running?

Widely acknowledged? Any citations?

a simple search of this forum will turn up several examples of the connection between Kenyan dominance and their barefoot childhoods. Numerous experts have written at length on the subject. I'm not going to dig up links for you. I thought this was a well known fact but letsrun is full of suprises. Instead of asking for citations why no add something valuable to the discussion?

People continue to defend shoe companies despite their complete disregard for the safety of runners. They make what sells, not what works. Somebody please tell me why a 7 year old needs a medial post.

Not trying to be an a$$ but I wish you would dig up some links or studies that prove this. A "Simple Search" of both LR and WWW via Google does not pull up writings by numerous experts.

Was a shoe guy for 7 years wrote:

runtherockies wrote:

Widely acknowledged? Any citations?

a simple search of this forum will turn up several examples of the connection between Kenyan dominance and their barefoot childhoods. Numerous experts have written at length on the subject. I'm not going to dig up links for you. I thought this was a well known fact but letsrun is full of suprises. Instead of asking for citations why no add something valuable to the discussion?

the wonderful new balance 790 trail flat is extremely flexible and is still available online for cheap in children's sizes, despite the model having been discontinued. (i wear a women's 7 and have a pair of kids' 5.5s, too. it's structurally the same shoe, although the shape of the kids' model is slightly modified in a way that doesn't fit me well.)

I can exactly give you a reason why a 7 year old would need medial posting: they have low muscle tone, and need the medial post, along with shoe orthotics to help give them stability.