APMA Seal of Acceptance

A sure sign of Spring is the Summer children's shoe catalogs are out. Yesterday in the mail I received a catalog for a local shoe store with all the summer sandals and sneakers in bright happy colors. I noticed some of the shoes brands in the catalog had a symbol located near the name.

So what does this mean. Are these shoes better than other shoes listed in the catalog? What advantage do these shoes have for your children's feet that other shoes do not have?
I went to the APMA website to see what this symbol meant and what these shoes companies had to do to get this seal of acceptance. The Seal of Acceptance is given to footwear, insoles, hosiery or equipment. The Seal is given to the companies that have proven the footwear or equipment allows normal foot function or promotes foot health. The companies must provide the Podiatric Seals Committee with research documentation of the benefits of the products, as well as, composition and quality control procedures. It is important to note that the Seals Committee does not evaluate footwear companies that have not applied for the seal, nor does it evaluate one footwear brand versus another. The companies that have been approved with a Seal of Acceptance are required to re-qualify every 3 years .

The Seal of Acceptance should be used as a guide when shopping for shoes. However, everyone's foot is different and therefore this should not be the only reason to buy a shoe.

For more shoe buying tips see an earlier blog we posted http://howtotreatfootproblems.blogspot.com/2012/01/first-question-out-of-most-peoples.html.

Dr. Alexandra "Sandie" Grulke

http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/