The Relation of the Height and Size of the Feet
Introduction
To begin with, it should be stated that the foot is the biological structure, with the function of enabling any animal to move. On the one hand, it is rather logical, that the higher the animal – the longer and bigger the foot. The length of the feet is aimed to balance the height of the individual for enabling the easy movement
Discussion
Originally, the discussions on the matters of the relation of the height and size of the feet, are numerous, and often useless. It is stated that the main claim of nature is the balance, thus, all the sizes and proportions should be balanced, otherwise, the harmony will be violated. Eckstein and Rasmussen (1999) in their research emphasize the following fact: “Limb growth in humans is genetically balanced. The size of a human foot (length from the heel to the tip of the big toe) is exactly the same length as the forearm from the inside of the elbow and the bend of the wrist. It is necessary to mention that there is a closer relationship between shoe size and limb size. Unless something has interrupted normal patterns of growth, then the length of the foot from heel to tip of the big toe is exactly the length of the forearm between the inside of the elbow and the bend of the wrist. This has to do with how limb growth is genetically balanced”. From this point of view, it is necessary to mention that the growth of the limb is a complicated process, which depends not only on the overall height of the body. The limb size depends also on nutrition, physical loads and the sizes of other parts of the body. The length of the torso is defined by the genes, and this length plays an essential role in the formation of the limbs: both – upper and lower. Thus, the length of the limbs is only partly genetic and is partly due to the quality of diet and amount of protein that the mother gets while the individual is developing in the womb (Elkind, 1996).
Survey
The survey was arranged in the university, where everyone had an opportunity to leave the data of his her height and size of the shoe. Up to 80 people were surveyed, aged 20-50 (including students and tutors). The average data is represented on the graph (taking into account that some people have equal foot size and height – the amount of the dots is less than 80).
The average data may be represented in the following table:
According to the graph, there is approximately 59% link between the height of a person and the size of the shoe. The fact is that this correlation may be regarded as rather weak; nevertheless, the hypothesis may be partly confirmed. Finally, there is a strong necessity to mention that this correlation can not be total, as there are lots of other factors, which influence the size of the feet, and the allover height is just one of them.
References
- Eckstein, D. G., Rasmussen, P. R.. & Wittscben, L. (1999). Understanding and dealing with adolescents. Journal of Individual Psychology, 55(1), pp. 31-50
- Elkind, D. (1996). Inhelder and Piaget on adolescence and adulthood: A postmodern appraisal. Psychological Science, 7(4), pp, 216-220