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Does Arch Height Affect A Woman’s Actual Height?
Hena Thakur
Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School, Rockville, MD
Abstract
This study investigates the presence of a correlation between women’s medial arch heights and actual heights. The human body is known to possess several different types of symmetries and proportional correlations; however, no studies have been conducted to determine the possibility of a relation between women’s medial arch heights and actual heights. The existence of such a relation could prove to be a valuable tool for scientists, especially those involved in forensics. In this study, medial arch heights and actual heights of 126 women were taken and regression analyses were performed on the data to determine significance. The results indicate no significant correlation between the foot arch height and actual height of a woman.
Introduction
There are several factors that affect human height. These factors include: an individual’s exposure to diseases, the nutrition an individual receives, the amount of exercise an individual does, the biological genes an individual possesses, the environment an individual grows up in, and the amount of stress undergone by an individual. These factors affect the strength and health of an individual, thereby determining the height of that person (Hueso, 2007; Lai, 2006).
Amidst the different correlations found between the human body and human height, only one correlation has been found between an individual’s foot and actual height. The length of a person’s foot directly correlates with the person’s height. The length of a person’s foot correlates with the height of the individual is (Patel, Shah, and Patel, 2007).
The foot arch in a person’s foot consists of the following bones: the Calcameus, the Talus, the Navicular, the three Cuneiforms, and the first, second and third Metatarsals. These bones have been modified, through surgery, in the past to achieve a desired foot arch height (Fick, 2007).
A study on foot arch height revealed that a relationship exists between foot arch height and foot pressure. People with low arched feet have a higher foot pressure when walking barefoot than do people with high arched feet (Van Schie & Boulton, 2000). This is just one of several problems associated with foot arches. It has been found that people with different foot arch heights undergo different problems due to their arch height. Flat-footed people, who have essentially no arch height, are called overpronators. Overpronators, while running, walking, or jogging, roll their feet inward, have problems stabilizing their body, do not absorb shocks efficiently, and transmit excess force to inside structures of their legs. Highly-arched footed people are called underpronators. Underpronators, while running, walking or jogging, roll their feet outward, do not absorb shocks efficiently, and transmit excess force to outside structures of their legs. Overpronators, however, are better able to handle stress caused by exercise than are underpronators because overpronators’ feet are more flexible. People with normally arched feet are called normal pronators. Normal pronators, while running, walking or jogging, roll their feet inward at the right angle, can support body weight, and distribute the impact of movement evenly. Thus overpronators and underpronators have added stress on their feet and are more likely to suffer injuries (Pronation explained, 2004).
Based on these findings, different foot arch heights cause different stresses on a person. It has also been proven that the amount of stress an individual undergoes as a youngster affects his/her height. However, no study has been conducted to see whether an individual’s foot arch height affects that individual’s actual height. The relation between an individual’s foot arch height and actual height, if proven significant, could provide scientists another means by which to determine the measurements of an individual should the situation arise when not all the individual’s bones are available for evaluation.
Method
Women, aged 20-55 years old, were tested in this experiment. This age limit was set because after the age of 18, women stop growing taller. Also, after the age of 55, women begin to shrink in height (Hueso, 2007). Such changes would skew the data because having the maximum height of the subject is essential in determining whether a correlation exists. The data were collected from July 9 until August 19, 2008 at the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Temple, the Rockville Sikh Temple, and Westat, a research corporation. The women were asked to place their bare feet on a flat surface. A ruler was used to measure the height from the flat board surface to the highest peak in the arch on the inside of their feet. The actual heights of the women were taken by asking them to stand against the wall on a flat surface, holding a ruler on top of the women’s heads and measuring, with a measuring tape, from the bottom of the women’s feet to the bottom of the ruler. A scatter plot and the regression analyses were performed to determine the presence of a relationship between these variables.
Results
The mean, median, maximum and minimum of the independent variable, foot arch height, are respectively: 2.12 cm, 1.97 cm, 3.24 cm and .90 cm (See Table 1). The mean, median, maximum and minimum of the dependent variable, actual height, are respectively: 158.91 cm, 158.80 cm, 172.70 cm, and 134.60 cm. The scatter plot of actual height versus foot arch height shows no relationship between the two variables (See Figure 1). Regression analysis was used to determine whether a relationship existed between foot arch height and actual height. The linear and nonlinear forms of the independent and dependent variables were used in different models; however, the relationship between a person’s actual height and foot arch height was not significant in any of the models (See Table 2). For example, when regression analysis was used on the variables, foot arch height and actual height, a p-value of .590 was given. This p-value, as were the other p-values found in the other models, was greater than .05 and thus insignificant.
Table 1 . Summary of Dependent and Independent Variables (Sample size=126)
Variable
Mean
Median
Minimum
Maximum
Dependent
Actual Height (cms)
158.91
158.80
134.60
172.70
Independent
Arch Height (cms)
2.12
1.97
0.90
3.24
Arch Height Square (cms sq.)
4.78
3.88
0.81
10.50
Arch Height Cube (cms cube)
11.39
7.65
0.73
34.01
See further information in Appendix A.
Table 2 . Linear Regression Results (Number of people=126)
Model (Women Height in cms.)
P-
P-
P-
P-
Coefficient
value
Coefficient
value
Coefficient
value
Coefficient
value
Arc height (cms)
0.461
0.590
-10.913
0.651
Arc height square (sq. cms.)
8.100
0.496
Arc height cube (cms. cube)
-1.571
0.397
Log (Arc height)
1.423
0.418
sqrt(Arc height)
1.683
0.499
Constant
157.930
0.000
161.245
0.000
157.885
0.000
156.477
0.000
Model (log[Women Height in cms.])
P-
P-
P-
P-
Coefficient
value
Coefficient
value
Coefficient
value
Coefficient
value
Arc height (cms)
0.003
0.575
-0.071
0.643
Arc height square (sq. cms.)
0.052
0.490
Arc height cube (cms. Cube)
-0.010
0.394
Log (Arc height)
0.009
0.408
sqrt(Arc height)
0.011
0.486
Constant
5.061
0.000
5.084
0.000
5.061
0.000
5.052
0.000
Discussion
The linear regression analyses showed no significant relationship between foot arch height and actual height in women. This means that the height of person’s foot arch does not significantly affect a person’s height. However, this study did not control for the other factors that affect height in humans. Further studies should control for these other factors to determine whether a relationship exists between foot arch height and actual height. For example, an experiment testing for this relationship should account for the following factors: a person’s level of nutrition intake during that person’s growth period and the amount of exercise done by a person during childhood. An experiment modeled as such would be better able to determine whether a relationship exists between a person’s foot arch height and actual height.
References
Fick, R. (2007). Arches of the Foot. In Human Anatomy. Retrieved June 18, 2008, from www.theodora.com/anatomy/arches_of_the_foot.html
Hueso, A. D. C. (2007, July 16). Study shows the factors which have most influenced human height throughout history . In Science News. Retrieved June 18, 2008, from http://prensa.ugr.es/prensa/research/verNota/prensa.php?nota=471
Lai, C.-Q. (2006, December 11). How much of human height is genetic and how much is due to nutrition? [Press release]. Retrieved June 17, 2008, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-much-of-human-height
Patel, S. M., Shaw, G. V., & Patel, S. V. (2007). Estimation of Height From Measurements of Foot Length in Gujarat Region. Journal of the Anatomical Society of India, 56(1), 25-27.
Pronation explained. (2004, August). Running shoes & gear: Running Shoe Basics: Orthotics & Pronation (Runner's world). Retrieved from
http://www.runnersworld.com/subtopic/0,7123,s6-240-319-327-0,00.htmlVan Schie, C. H., & Boulton, A. J. (2000). The effect of arch height and body mass on plantar pressure. Wounds, 12, 88-95.
Appendix A - Data Table
Actual Height
(cm)
Arch Height
(cms)
Actual Height
(cm)
Arch Height
(cms)
Actual Height
(cm)
Arch Height
(cms)
Actual Height
(cm)
Arch Height
(cms)
134.6
1.890625
167.6
2.287500
154.9
1.970000
156.2
2.381250
154.9
1.890625
162.6
3.240000
167.6
1.890625
160.0
1.905000
158.8
1.970000
172.7
1.970000
162.6
1.970000
158.8
2.540000
163.8
1.652500
165.1
2.287500
152.4
3.240000
157.5
2.540000
153.7
0.938125
157.5
1.652500
154.9
1.970000
162.6
2.540000
157.5
1.811250
162.6
1.970000
160.0
1.890625
157.5
2.381250
158.8
1.890625
162.6
1.811250
154.3
1.890625
158.8
2.381250
152.4
2.843125
154.9
1.970000
148.6
1.811250
160.0
2.063750
167.6
1.970000
160.0
2.128750
157.5
1.414375
157.5
2.381250
165.1
2.128750
160.0
1.652500
160.0
1.652500
157.5
2.381250
144.8
1.731875
157.5
2.843125
157.5
1.811250
152.4
1.905000
167.6
1.652500
160.0
1.970000
167.6
2.128750
162.6
1.905000
160.0
1.652500
165.1
2.128750
154.9
1.652500
165.1
2.540000
165.1
1.493750
167.6
2.366875
160.0
1.493750
154.9
2.540000
162.6
1.970000
162.6
2.128750
156.2
1.890625
152.4
2.222500
162.6
1.573125
154.9
1.811250
157.5
1.890625
160.0
1.905000
162.6
2.366875
167.6
2.684375
152.4
1.731875
161.9
1.905000
165.1
2.366875
160.0
2.128750
157.5
3.160625
153.7
2.381250
156.2
2.843125
162.6
2.446250
157.5
1.731875
160.0
2.381250
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