Why are shoes made so narrow to the point that it changes the bone structure of our foot? There had to be a benefit at some point so make them so narrow, right?

Question

Tribal people who don’t wear shoes have very wide feet compared to people who wear shoes. I saw a commercial for “natural” shoes talking about how narrow even athletic shoes or standard shoes are compared to theirs. They claim that this changes the bones structure of the foot and can cause issues. I understand why we wear shoes, but why did we make them so narrow to the point that it changes our foot? Is there a benefit?

In: 4245

Answer 1

Most shoes today are mass produced for a nearly global marketplace. They are built to an ‘average’ size foot width for the market. To reduce costs a lot of shoe manufacturers only make shows in one width.

There is no benefit to wearing shows that are too tight, it is likely to cause foot pain and toe issues like hammer toes.

The only way to buy shoes that come in various widths is to spend a lot more.