How modern life is changing our feet
What modern living is doing to our feet and why our trainers may not be the best for them.
For nearly two million years we evolved in close sync with our environment but 250 years ago the industrial revolution happened and changed everything. The innovation and technology it brought had many benefits but there was a physical cost as progress also designed out movement from our lives.
From spending hours on our feet outdoors, our jobs have moved indoors and largely involve sitting down for most of the day in offices, factories or driver cabs. It has resulted in feet that are getting flatter, backs that are weaker and eyes that cannot see very much without help.
Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid hears from evolutionary biologists, academics, anatomists and public health professionals in Singapore, Kenya, Australia, the UK and the United States; about the impact of modern life on our physical self and what we can do to return our bodies to the state that nature intended.
The good news is there is no need to spend hours on treadmills or pumping iron, in fact we would injure ourselves a lot less if we were a bit more cautious when exercising. Our bodies are marvellously adaptable and reintroducing small movements into our daily lives in most cases will do the trick!
(Photo: Womens' feets splashing in a pool. Credit: Getty Images)
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Did you know our feet have grown by two sizes in four decades?
Duration: 02:01
Broadcasts
- Wed 15 May 2019 02:32GMT成人快手 World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 15 May 2019 03:32GMT成人快手 World Service UK DAB/Freeview
- Wed 15 May 2019 04:32GMT成人快手 World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean, South Asia & East Asia only
- Wed 15 May 2019 12:32GMT成人快手 World Service except News Internet
- Wed 15 May 2019 17:06GMT成人快手 World Service Australasia
- Wed 15 May 2019 21:06GMT成人快手 World Service
- Sat 18 May 2019 16:32GMT成人快手 World Service News Internet
- Sun 19 May 2019 09:06GMT成人快手 World Service except Europe and the Middle East
- Wed 4 Aug 2021 03:06GMT成人快手 World Service
- Wed 4 Aug 2021 08:06GMT成人快手 World Service
- Wed 4 Aug 2021 12:32GMT成人快手 World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
- Wed 4 Aug 2021 19:06GMT成人快手 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Sun 8 Aug 2021 10:32GMT成人快手 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
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The Compass
With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about society