翻譯：王占星 李建章

Children’s footwear

兒童鞋

Most infants are born with healthy feet and do not require any stockings or shoes and least of all training shoes to learn how to walk. When toddlers play outside on the street ,their shoes need to be well-fitting.in the early 20^th century ,children’s shoes were still fabricated as miniature versions of adult shoes. the first anatomically fit children’s shoes were manufactured starting in 1918. after world war II ,there was neither an awareness of the problem nor money for properly fitting childen’s shoes.in the mid-fifties ,the shoe manufacturer elefanten demanded that children’s feet be measured .in 1954,professor erne maier ,M.D from the research center for last and shoes of the german orthopedic society ,was awarded the research contract. in 1956, he started by measuring the feet of more than 26000 children and adolescents.

大部分嬰兒出生時都有一雙健康的腳，也不需要任何鞋和襪子和最起碼的訓練鞋去學會走路，當幼兒在街上玩耍時，他們就應該有一雙非常合適的鞋。在二十世紀初，童鞋的制作仍然是成人鞋的縮小版，世界上第一雙根據兒童足部解剖特點設計的兒童鞋是在1918年，可是在二次世界大戰后，政府沒有專門的資金和人員支持去研究合腳的兒童鞋，在50年代中期，“小象”制鞋公司要求對兒童的足部尺寸進行測量。1954年，德國矯形協會“鞋楦與鞋類”研究中心的厄恩邁爾教授簽署了一項研究計劃。從1956年開始他對26000名兒童和青少年的足部尺寸進行了測量。

The core message of the initial results :  the width is the leading measure when fitting shoes , when fitting shoes,the ball measurement dictates ,how they sit ,if the shoes are too wide,the foot slips into the tip of the shoe and causes pressure points in the toe area,moreover there was clearance in the heel,where the foot was not restrained but slid back and forth. the researcher mapped a growth curve that unequivocally illustrated how the proportions of children’S  feet change as they grow .interestingly ,length and width did not change evenly ,the result of this study showed that 85% of children new bought shoes that were too small,the measurements of children’ feet taken by the orthopedist H.U Debrunner, under commission of the swiss shoemaker bally, confirmed these results, the german children’s shoes research Group (Arbeitskreis Kinderschuh,AK)was founded as a consequence of this evidence ; the guidelines it developed are still in force today.  they include length and width tables and formulas for inner soles. 

最初的核心測量結果顯示：寬度是鞋子最主要的尺寸，當試鞋時，足的跖圍會直接反饋給我們：這個寬度是否合適？如果鞋子太寬，腳滑入鞋的前端，造成鞋頭區域有壓力點，而且在腳跟處也有間隙，腳不受約束，而且前后滑動，研究人員繪制了一個增長曲線，明確地說明了孩子的腳的比例隨著他們的成長而改變，而且長度和寬度變化是不均勻的，他這項研究的結果表明，通過測量，85%的兒童新買的鞋都是不合適的。瑞士巴利bally鞋業足部矯形師德布倫納（H. U Debrunner）肯定了這一結果。德國兒童鞋研究機構AK（Arbeitskreis Kinderschuh，）也證實了這一結果，他們制定的指導方案今天仍然有效，其中包括鞋內底（楦底樣）的長度和寬度的表格和計算公式。

2.1 the wide-medium-slim(wms)system

2.1 WMS（寬—中—窄）系統   

The “additional widths offering “ approach adopted in 1965 was renamed in 1974 ,it is now called the wide-medium-slim system or wms for short:W=Wide,M=medium.S=slim

“額外寬度提供”體系于1965年被采納，1974年被重新命名過一次，現在該體系被稱為WMS(wide-medium-slim )體系，也被稱之為“WMS特殊體系（寬、中、窄）”

Unfortunately ,the quality controls for WMS shoes tended to be carried out insufficiently ,the former German Demmocratic Repulic(GDR) had a comparable system with more sophisticated measurement taking and better verification ,it was unfortunate ,however ,that the capacity was lacking to manufacture enough shoes in various widths.

然而不幸的是，WMS體系對于鞋類質量控制的開展效果并不好，它并沒有得到很好推廣。在同一時代，前東德（民主德國）也研發了一套復雜的腳型測量體系，但是很遺憾，它并不能滿足不同腳寬兒童的需求。

More recent foot measurements on children have shown that the proportions of children ‘s feet have change in recent years Children are becoming larger and heavier with accordingly wider and longer feet .

近期更多的兒童足部測量結果顯示：兒童腳型尺寸比例發生了變化，學生體型變得更大體重也變得更重，相應的腳長和腳寬也都跟著增長。

2.2 Measuring children’s feet

兒童腳型測量

In 1996 professor H.H WEEIZ M D from the clinic for technical orthopedics in munster .in cooperation with the Guild for orthopedic shoe technology ,launched the first kids feet day of the city of munster to combat the still -previailing misconceptions about how to fit children’s shoes .

1996年一位來自德國明斯特矯形診所的H.H WEEIZ M D教授組織了一次兒童腳型測量活動。他聯合矯形鞋協會一同在明斯特市開展該項活動，當初的目的是為了反駁當時仍然流行的兒童足—鞋適配的一些錯誤觀念。

As previously ,the objective was still to comprehensively educate parents and verify implementation of the WMS system .Based on professor Maier’s evidence and facts,the inner sole clearly dictates lengths and widths. calibrated foot measuring equipmoent is a prerequisite for measuring feet .

因為，在以前人們的觀念中，兒童鞋的首要目標仍然是繼續教育家長相信WMS系統的科學性，并且繼續驗證和貫徹實施這一體系。基于Maier教授的事實和證據，足部測量之前必須首先要對足部測量設備進行校準。

Seven different measuring devices sold on the market were testd .professor Maier added smaller toe allowances to the smaller shoe size:shoe size 18 with toe allowance B-D of 9 mm up to shoe size 30 with toe allowance of 15mm .the of 9 mm up to size 30 with toe allowance of 15 mm.

它們推出了7款不同的足部測量設備在市場上進行測試，并且Maier教授增加了最小號兒童鞋的最小放余量。其中法碼18#的嬰兒鞋，允許的放余量為9mm，以此遞推到30#中童鞋時的放余量為15mm。兒童鞋的放余量區間為9—15mm(18—30#).

the numbers plotted on a graph in the coordinate system produced a curve .however,the curve of most the measuring equipment usually a line .that made it clear that mang measuring devices produced the wrong measurements according to the WMS system (Fit.5)

根據測量結果，它們繪制了相應的坐標曲線。然而，大多數測量設備顯示的測量結果最終只是一條直線。這表明根據WMS體系許多機器測量的結果都是錯誤的。

the device from the German shoe instiute (DSI)was the only one that produced correct sizing .one of its disadvantages ,however, was a loose mechanism that allowed deviations偏差 of 2-5mm.We equipped the devices with a stable metal mechanism that allowed no play whatsoever .the WMS DSI devices available on today’s market feature mechanicalimprovements.

最終的事實證明，在所有的測量設備中，來自德國制鞋研究所（DSI）的腳型測量儀是唯一能得出正確鞋號的設備。但是它也并不完美，它存在2—5mm的測量誤差。我們對這臺機器加裝了一個金屬穩定裝置，使它不能隨意挪動。這套德國制鞋研究所的WMS鞋號體系測量系統目前被應用于商場選鞋之中，未來它還有很大改進提升的空間。 

Shoe size has always been critically dependent on internal shoe length.for instance . 

 shoes labelled with size 26(pairs stitch )in actual fact only had an internal shoe length for size 24. 

一般情況下，鞋號尺寸的大小嚴重依賴于鞋內底的長度，例如，標注為26碼（巴黎尺寸—即法碼，譯者注）的鞋子，實際上內底的長度只有24碼。

 the extent to which this error was by intent or ignorance on the part of the shoe industry cannot be determined , the fact is that parents buy their kids shoes that are too small and later the children require new shoes at much shorter intervals.  這個錯誤被制鞋廠家有意無意的忽略掉了，事實上，這導致家長給小孩買鞋子時總會太短或者小孩對新鞋的要求更換頻率總是太快。

that is what makes it that much more important to check the internal length and width of shoes in advance.

這就是為什么要事先檢查兒童鞋內底長度的重要性。

for this purpose we used verified inner soles templates that were inserted in the shoes.

為了達到這個目的，我們通常使用一個校正過的鞋內底模板來進行測試。這個模板能夠直接放入鞋內腔進行量測內底大小。

if the templates bulged塞滿 ,the shoes were called “high-punched” after educating the parents about these misconceptions, we hand them a tape measure so that they can check the internal shoe length themselves.

如果該模板塞滿了鞋腔，那么這個鞋被稱之為“高壓力”型童鞋，以此為例，我們應當教育家長改變認識上的錯誤概念。并且我們會教給他們用帶尺自己直接測量鞋子內底的長度。

children’s feet are softer and more pliable（柔軟） than adults’feet .for this reason ,children tend to not be all that bothered by shoes that are too short.

兒童足部相對于成人來說通常較柔軟，基于這個原因，兒童往往不會受到鞋類太短帶來的煩惱。