RESEARCHCENTRE: High heels are good for your soul but not your body – Study

High heels are good for your soul but not your body – Study. PHOTO| FILE |NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • For the study, a team of researchers from Aberdeen University in Scotland reviewed twenty scientific publications.
  • The down side, according to these findings is that these shoes while having such a positive effect on a woman’s attitude, can injure her body.
  • In many companies both locally and abroad, employers insist that women wear high heels to work.

On that day that you are seeking to look particularly attractive, you should put on a pair of high heeled shoes. This is according to findings of a new study which confirm that women wearing high heels not only feel more attractive and confident but they indeed appear more appealing to both men and women. The down side, according to these findings, is that high heeled shoes might hurt your body.

For the study, a team of researchers from Aberdeen University in Scotland reviewed twenty scientific publications.

Up to two thirds of women studied in these publications reported feeling more attractive in high heels. Men on the other hand were found to be more likely to smile at and to offer assistance to a woman wearing heels than one donning flats.

HIGH RISK OF INJURY

The down side, according to these findings is that these shoes while having such a positive effect on a woman’s attitude, can injure her body. They found that they bring a high risk of injury and musculoskeletal pain. High heeled shoes, they found out, can cause injuries from the toes up to the spine. The likely injuries include back pains, broken ankles, and sprains and more than double the risk of developing bunions. Women who make this choice of footwear, according to these findings, are also more likely to fall.

In many companies both locally and abroad, employers insist that women wear high heels to work. The reasons given is that these shoes make a woman seem more serious and professional. On analysing these findings, especially the ill effects that come with heels, the researchers recommend that stricter laws are put in place to ensure that women are not forced to wear high heels to work if they do not wat to. They argue that this kind of expectations from employers is akin to discriminating against women on the basis of their gender.

“There is pressure on women to wear heels and celebrity influence making it fashionable to do, whether they intend to or not. There is often not an absolute rule to wear heels, but in some work places, there can be an unspoken expectation meaning that everyone does it,” says Dr Max Barnish, the lead study author says of the findings which have been published in the journal BMC Public Health.