The Washington times., 1919-01-12
VERY baby is born with two heels.
r. At the back of each foot nature pro-
- vides a substantial heel bone called

VERY BABY Is porn with Two neeis.
r. At the back of each foot nature pro-
- vides substantial heel bone called
los calcis."
Every normal child when it begins to
walk stands erect-body perfectly poised,
shoulders squared. middle of its head dt !,
rectly over the arch of its feet
Nobody puts heels on infants shoes. Ii
you push little wedges or heels under the
baby's feet they would pry the little body
forward and the child would lose it's nat
ural balance and fall on it's face.
But as we grow out of infancy we are
taught to wear heels. Here is where the
custom of civilization puts US at disad-
vantage with the savage who wears no
artificial heels.
Perhaps. the best example of erect car
riage is the West Point Army cadet The
cadet, of course, wears heels on his shoes.
II his body balances perfectly, as it should.
standing in his bare feet then it is out of
balance when his shoes are on. But what
Of it?
Professor Sylvester ID. Fairweather, OF
Scotland, has made some interesting and
suggestive Investigations about heels. He
finds that the common three-quarter inch
heel on mems shoes prizes the head for
ward nine inches Ordinary heels, there
fore, tip the body nine inches out of plumb
And Professor Fairweather has figured out
that the unnatural muscular strain and out
put of energy required to hold yourself
erect when you wear heels of this height
is equal to what would be required to carry
all the time a weight of ffty-sik pounds.
In other words, when you wea: average
heels you pry your head forward nine
inches out Of plumb and in forcing your
self back into erect position. you put
constant muscle strain on yourself equal
to carrying two fourteen-quart pals OF
water all day long.
This is, OF course, most serious matter
with soldiers and other men whose work
keeps them on their feet for long periods
of time. Even the most robust of men can
Ill AFFORD the waste of muscular effort
which his heels cause every minute that
he is in an erect position.
hygienic habit of continually wearing
heels of even moderate height is the pain
full deformity known as fiat foot.
Flat foot is deformity of the foot in
which its arch sinks down so that the
inner edge of the foot comes TO rest upon
the ground. 1t is very serious matter,
for unless it can be remedied it debars a
person from any work or play involving
much physical activity.
How much the wearing of heels on our
shoes has to do with causing this condi-
tion is shown by the fact that when the
arches of weakly children begin to give
awav they can often be cured by making
them wear Ior a lew months shoes having
no heels whatever
But fat foot, serious as il is, is by no
means the only trouble that can be caused
by our foolish efforts to improve on the
els nature gave us.
Myaigia muscle pain), asthma, varicese
veins and curvature of the spine are all
frequently brought on by wearing heels
that throw our bodies several inches out
1f plumb.
professor Fairweather is also Of the
J..jni0a that the constant strain imposed
by wearing shoes with heels may produce
ornament impairment of the heart.
This type of anectIon is so common in
armies tnau pnysIcIans call it Soldiers
heart
II is easy to see how the heels which
nature never intended US to wear may
break down the arches Of the feet, and
how the continual prying of the body out
OF plumb twists the spine out Of shape and
strains certain muscles so that they be-
come chronically painful. But just why
the heart and bronchial tubes and the
veins Of the legs should suffer from the
same cause Is not at first glance so clear
The incompetence Of the aortic valve