Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have come under fire from the medical community after snaps of their 3-year-old daughter Suri wearing high-heels surfaced on the Interwebs.
Earlier this month, one snooping paparazzo snapped the tot wearing a pair of open toe heels about an inch high, while clutching a cup from Starbucks (Is she three or thirty?) — but experts fear wearing heels at such an early age can be harmful for Suri’s physical growth.
“A common side effect of adults wearing heels too often is the tightening or shortening of the Achilles tendon,” New York-based podiatrist Dr. Oliver Zong told FOX News Friday. “At Suri’s age, children are growing quickly, and you want everything growing at the same rate. If the tendon is not growing at the same rate as everything else, it could become a problem,” he added.
In recent weeks, the pint-sized fashionista has joined mom Katie in rocking starter heels all over Boston while dad Tom is hard at work filming scenes for a new movie nearby.
“If a parent allows their child to wear the heels in moderation, that’s one thing, but who’s to say what is moderate for a three year old child,” Dr. Zong explained. “With an adult, [high] heels that don’t fit properly can lead to hammer toes or bunions, but an adult’s growth plate is closed. With a child that young, her growth plate is still open, so a pair of heels that is too tight could damage the growing bones of her feet.”
“A child’s proper growth could face serious problems if a growth plate is crushed.”