How can imbalance of sole happen to children?
When you poke at baby’s palm or sole, there is a reflex action to grip your finger, which is called “Grasp reflex” and “Plantar Reflection. These reflexes are natural. For example, a baby monkey has these primitive reflexes to hang onto his mother without falling off even shortly after birth.
In human beings, a baby starts wearing socks to avoid the cold or dangerous objects on the floor, and nor do they have much opportunity to walk on a gravel paths or unpaved roads to accelerate development of plantar reflection. Consequently, the toes do not learn to grab the ground firmly and the ligament of the metatarsophalangeal joint becomes too weak to maintain the transversal arch on the sole, resulting in bunions (Hallux Valgus) or ungrounded toe.
If you have such an imbalance of the sole, there is a distortion of the upper body to compensate for the imbalance of the sole. This makes children lose the sense of balance and adjustability. In a country or a region where people walk barefoot, children can even carry things up on their heads because their foundation is stable. Their feet are able to grab the ground firmly as the plantar reflection has been strongly developed.
