2024 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 19-23
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to confirm the status of floating toes with respect to the 1st to 5th toes, and examine the association between each floating toe and foot morphology/physique/body composition. [Methods] The subjects were 438 1st- to 6th-grade elementary school students. The presence or absence of floating was evaluated at the 1st to 5th toes. With respect to each toe, the subjects were divided into floating and non-floating groups, and foot morphology and body composition were compared. [Results] For the 1st toe, the body weight, percent body fat (p<0. 05), Rohrer index, foot width, and foot width/foot length (p<0. 01) in the floating group were significantly higher than in the non-floating group. For the 2nd toe, similar results were obtained, excluding the body weight. For the 3rd to 5th toes, only the incidence of hallux valgus (p<0. 05) was significantly higher. [Conclusion] In elementary school students with floating 1st/2nd toes, the Rohrer index and percent body fat were high. The results suggested that floating 3rd to 5th toes are influenced by hallux valgus.