Barefoot-LIFE Project

Project data

Title: Barefoot-LIFE Project
Duration: January 2015 to December 2017
Funding institution: National research funding Hamburg
Project Speaker: Prof. Dr. Astrid Zech, Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Braumann (University of Hamburg)
Project Leader: Dr. Karsten Hollander (University of Hamburg)

Cooperation partner

• Universität Hamburg, Institut für Bewegungswissenschaft
• Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Lehrstuhl für Trainingswissenschaft
• University of Stellenbosch, Department of Sport Science, South Africa
• Albertinen-Haus Hamburg, Medizinisch-Geriatrische Klinik
• Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus, Abt. für Kinderorthopädie
• Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institut für medizinische Biometrie und Epidemiologie

Project description

Individual gait and running patterns underlie lifelong adjustments. They may be affected by internal changes due to illness, injury or training and external factors such as increased shoe cushioning or unstable ground conditions. Above all, habitual shoe and barefoot running strategies are increasingly being discussed as a causal factor for the occurrence of early childhood foot deformities, running injuries and movement disorders. On the basis of own research and current studies, questions and hypotheses on developmental and health effects of regular barefoot walking were developed. These include interrelationships between individual running patterns and the prevalence of postural and movement disorders as well as foot morphological changes. For example, a study of the cooperative project compared habitual barefoot runners from South Africa between the ages of 6 and 18 with shoe runner from Germany (same age group) with regard to foot morphology, motor performance and running biomechanics.