The common command from Mum to "put your shoes on" could soon change to "put your thongs on", if new research proves to be true.
Children could soon be flip-flopping their way around the schoolyard with experts suggesting that the best shoe should mimic the barefoot.
With a focus on feet, Sydney University researcher Alex Chard is working to eliminate the bad image of thongs and says the common summer essential could be better for children's feet than closed-in school shoes.
Despite health professionals and parents often discouraging thongs as suitable footwear, Chard says there is no hard evidence to suggest they are inadequate to other types of shoe.
"The latest research has found that there is more motion within the arch of the foot than previously thought," he says.
"It might be the case that flexible things can actually assist in developing the 16 muscles within each foot, helping Australian children to improve their sporting prowess."
Chard's research team, from the foot and ankle research unit, will conduct a study of children aged seven to 13 to test the motion of the child's foot in closed-in shoes, thongs or bare feet.
Computer animation will be used to determine whether thongs are suitable when children are running, walking and stepping sideways.
The research will take place at the university's Lidcombe campus. Sydneysiders who would like their child to take part in the survey should contact Alex Chard on 0419 436 633.
Your say: Do you think thongs are appropriate footwear for children?
