High heels on sale for girls as young as five have been slammed as 'dangerous and irresponsible'.
The shoes, with an open toe and a 4cm heel are in River Island's footwear range, with sizes from junior 10 up to adult size 5.
But campaigners have criticised the shoes urging parents not to buy them, 'even for special occasions'.
Tweeting a photo of the heels, the Let Clothes Be Clothes group, a campaign to end gender stereotyping in the design and marketing of childrenswear, said: "Girls' heels and wedges at @riverisland@RiverIslandPR in casual styles, sized from 10 junior (around 5 years old), with a 4cm heel. We believe 4cm heels in girls shoes are dangerous and irresponsible. Please do not buy them, even for special occasions."
And they weren't the only ones to find fault with the £25 ankle strap shoes.
Rach on Twitter said: "This is ridiculous. Could be even younger - my 5 year old wears size 13 shoes." While The Scientific Hippy added: "What's 4cm as a percentage of foot length that age? The angle? That has to hurt."
Speaking to the M.E.N's Manchester Family, Francesca Mallen, of Let Clothes Be Clothes, said 58% of the group's supporters want the UK government to issue a ban on these types of shoes that target young girls, some from three years of age.
She said: "We all know heels and wedges are bad for our feet. They're bad for our toes, ankles, ligaments, posture and cause foot deformities and back pain.
"Now imagine those feet are new, soft, still growing and they're worn by a someone who wants to run with their friends, climb in the playground and jump in the mud. Heels for girls are dangerous, damaging and completely unnecessary."
Do you let your daughter wear heels? Are you strict about what footwear your children wear? Let us know in the comments here.
She added: "I have nothing but contempt for the retailers who peddle this unhealthy footwear to kids, which parents see on a trusted shop's shelves and understandably believe if it's sold here, they must be good for my child'."
Salford podiatrist Lindsay Hill, of Axis Podiatry, says parents need to be careful when choosing shoes for their children.
She said: "As a mum with an eight-year-old daughter, I understand the dilemma [of them wanting to follow fashion], but a child doesn’t understand the long term consequences of wearing badly fitting footwear.
"I would say you can compromise and for short term occasional use it’s not so bad, but for school shoes etc, where they are worn for several hours a day, and day after day, then heels should be avoided."
She said it's 'vital to get something that offers the right support' - with anything too low such as dolly shoes, as well as anything too high, or slip-ons a 'definite no-no'.
"Children's feet are still growing and developing so it's really important that they are looked after properly," added Lindsay "A shoe needs to be held securely on young feet as they are running around, jumping and skipping."
A spokesperson for River Island said: “We take in age-appropriateness, style and function into consideration in all our Kidswear designs, together with customer demand."
April 28, 2021 at 01:22AM
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River Island's high heels for five-year-olds slammed as 'dangerous and irresponsible' - Manchester Evening News
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