Features

Health visitor advice: Addressing pigeon toes

In a series written by senior health visitors, Yvonne Douglas at Highlands Health Visiting Team in Enfield, London talks about the often-overlooked problem of pigeon toes (‘intoeing’), how to spot it and what early years settings can do


I often see children with intoeing in my clinic. Intoeing, or pigeon-toed walking, is a condition where a child's feet are turned in when they walk. Around ten per cent of children between the ages of two and five have it.

Intoeing gait in a healthy child occurs as a result of the bones in the leg being twisted. Other causes are when the border of the feet can also curve inwards, or tight or weak muscles. A growth spurt can cause intoeing to worsen.

I have often seen children in clinic whose parents are concerned that their child is falling over a lot.

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