Fantastic 'Footnotes': When Do Your Feet Stop Growing?

Did you know that even after you get 40 years old, you can gain half a shoe size every decade?

You probably do not want your feet to grow because you love your current pair of shoes and do not want to throw them away. As your shoe size increases, those shoes have become tight and give you pain.

But can you stop them from growing in your life? Is it good that your feet are still growing? When will your feet stop growing? Why can’t they remain the same size for their entire life?

Why do they need to grow? Now, where do you search for the answers? Well, answers to all these questions are here in this article.

As you grow older your feet grow in proportional size to your height. Scientifically, your feet need to be of a specific size in order to balance your body.

So, as your height increases with age, your feet have to grow so that you can walk perfectly.

Here is a fact, do you know that you can not walk if you do not have toes. Other than the increase in height, swelling during pregnancy and an increase in weight can also lead to foot growth.

When you gain weight, your body collects fat in different parts of the body, and the feet are one of them.

This makes your feet grow bigger and you have to buy a new pair of shoes. After you have read all about the relation between body weight and growing feet, you may also like to read why do we have belly buttons and why do we have fingernails?

How to make your feet stop growing?

Well, scientifically, you can not stop your feet or any body part from growing. You are not a bonsai. Your feet grow when your body needs them to be bigger.

So you are not advised to change the growth of your feet or any other body part. But if your feet are growing more than normal, then there are some ways that can help you to slow the growth. Remember, you can only make them grow slowly but not stop them from what they want.

The most common and easiest way to stop the growth of your foot is using a shoe arch in your shoes. Your feet get bigger and wider when they get flattened by your body weight.

So an arch helps your feet from getting flat and thus stops them from growing further. You can also use specially designed arched sandals which perfectly fit your foot and will stop them from being flattened.

Wear shoes that are more stable and do not get wide with time. Sometimes your shoes get wide because of the material used in them.

So, to avoid your feet from getting bigger, shift to stable shoes. And you know what, sometimes when you buy shoes you take a size bigger without realizing that they will get wider with their usage.

So, whenever you buy shoes take those which are perfectly fit for you, not a size bigger, not a size smaller, just the proper size of your foot.

Do your feet ever stop growing?

Your feet grow till your body grows. When you're a kid, your feet will grow at a high pace.

You will need to buy a new pair of shoes every year because the last year’s shoes won’t fit you anymore. But as you grow old, old means not like your grandparents, old means adult, probably in your twenties, then your feet will stop growing and you can wear your favorite shoes for years until they are torn off.

Generally, kids’ feet grow until they hit puberty. But the age for feet growth varies in boys and girls. Boys’ feet grow mostly till they are 10 years of age.

80% of their feet growth is completed by this age. When boys are 15 or 16 years old, their feet almost grow to their maximum height and probably won’t grow further. They reach a stable size.

In girls, their feet mostly grow when they are of age 13-14 years. But 90% of the feet growth in girls starts after puberty age. So they can see the feet size-changing after these years, because of the hormones.

In both boys and girls, feet size becomes stable at an age of 20-21 years. So you do not have to worry about your shoe size.

You will grow till you attain the age of 21 years, and maybe a little after that until you become an adult. And, boys and girls, your feet don't grow throughout your entire life.

Do feet stop growing before height?

Your entire body doesn’t grow at the same time throughout your entire life, so it obviously won’t stop growing at a particular time. Your arms and feet are the first to stop growing, then your hands and legs, and lastly your spine.

So the answer to the above question is yes. Yes, your feet stop growing before your height, because your spine plays a very important role in your height. But there can be some exceptions, as the human body is a very dynamic object to understand.

Now you are probably thinking that if your feet stop growing before your height so that if you have small feet you will be short. It is not always correct that tall people have big feet and short people have small feet.

You can be tall and your feet may be small, and you can be short and your feet may be big. So you do not have to worry about your height if your feet remain small before gaining a certain height.

Do your feet grow when you gain weight?

Yes, a child's feet grow bigger as he/she gains bodyweight and the feet get flatter as well. There can be two reasons for this.

First, when you gain weight, some of your fat gets stored in your feet and makes them fatty. If your feet become fatty, then your old shoes won’t fit you. This will make you feel that your feet have grown bigger.

To maintain good health if you want to be fit in your old pair of shoes. The growth plate will develop a final size between the age of 18 - 20 years.

The other reason is that your feet feel like they grow after your twenties because of the flattening of the foot. Your feet happen to seem to have grown, but they are actually getting flattered.

This flattening of your feet can be caused by the extra weight you have gained. Weight is the reason for foot growth when you are in your adulthood. Kids do not have to worry about their weight or height, or their feet size.

This is the same cause of feet growth during pregnancy. During pregnancy, women gain some extra weight and fat, which makes their feet grow by swelling, and the shoes they wear feel a bit tight.

Does foot size predict height?

Foot size and height are generally considered to be proportional to each other. It is believed that taller people tend to have big feet and shorter people tend to have small feet. Scientists also use a person’s foot size in many heights predicting formulas to predict that person’s height.

As we have explained earlier, taller people can have small feet and shorter people have big feet. Feet size can only predict the height and not tell exactly that the person will be taller or shorter.

The height of a person depends on many factors such as nutrition, genes, physical health. All these factors help in the development of your height and can also affect the growth of your feet.

Can You Change the Size of Your Feet?

As we have explained earlier, your child's feet change size at their own pace, and you should not interfere in their growth. Though you can change your foot size by not letting them grow as they want to. But this is not how a human body should work.

In some previous questions in this article, you have learned how you can stop your feet from getting big. But remember that those suggestions are for those who are adults and their feet are growing excessively.

You are a child and you will grow, so do your feet. You do not have to worry about your feet growing and your shoe size. Your feet will stop growing when it's time for them to stop, probably when you reach adulthood.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for when do your feet stop growing then why not take a look at why do we have toenails, or why do we have armpit hair.