DALLAS — As images of 3 1/2-year-old Suri Cruise out and about in blingy heels recently hit magazines and the Internet, reactions to the grown- up look for small children have ranged from cries of inappropriate to defense of a little girl’s right to be girlie.
Suri’s mom, Katie Holmes, told Access Hollywood she considers the kitten heels supportive because they were made specifically for kids learning ballroom dancing.
As Christina Vercelletto, senior editor of Parenting magazine, has been putting together the spring fashion edition, she said she has noticed shoes for girls as young as 5 and 6 sporting heels as high as an inch.
But unlike other fashion trends, heels pose physical risks that include a tightening of the heel cord and changes in the growth plate.
Matthew Dairman, a Suffolk, Va., foot and ankle surgeon and a spokesman for the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, urges parents to limit wear to once or twice a week for four hours at a stretch — if at all. Another important factor, he said, is difficulty in keeping children from running, which could make those in heels more susceptible to ankle sprains or broken bones.
“You put a kid in a heel and someone touches them and says tag, they’re it — they’re off,” Dairman said. “Moderation is key.”
