The Relationship between Heel Fat Pad Thickness and Flexibility and Physical Demographics

To clarify the factors that contribute to the development of heel pain in young individuals, this study investigated the relationship of heel thickness and flexibility with physical demographics among Japanese elementary and junior high school students. A total of 69 heels were included as participants in this study. The measurement items were age, height, weight, rohrer index, heel fat pad thickness and flexibility. The heel fat pad thickness and flexibility was measured using an ultrasound probe and S oftgram (Shinko Denshi co.,ltd.). The heel fat pad thickness measurements were distance from the skin to the calcaneus was measured by applying the ultrasound probe both without (hereafter referred to as "non-pressure thickness") and with manually applied pressure to the measurement point (hereafter referred to as “pressure thickness”) . The heel fat pad flexibility evaluation consisted of subtracting non-pressure thickness by pressure thickness (thickness of change difference), and computing for the value when the thickness of change difference is divided by the non-pressure thickness and multiplied by 100 (thickness of change rate). In addition to this, heel fat pad flexibility evaluation consisted of measuring using the softness sensor Softgram. Multiple regression analysis showed that weight and age were predictors of non-pressure thickness. On the other hand, pressure thickness was weight was a predictor of pressure thickness. In the relationship between heel fat pad flexibility and demographic data, the Softgram measurements showed a significantly fair correlation with age and significantly moderate correlations with height and weight. Multiple regression analysis further showed that body weight was a predictor of Softgram measurements. This results suggest that heel fat pad thickness and flexibility in elementary and junior high school students became thicker and stiffer, respectively, with increasing age, height and weight. Notably, both thickness and flexibility were particularly related to body weight.