Personalities let their feet do the talking!

Current and former sporting, community and political leaders have become involved in an exhibition to educate the younger generations on the importance throughout life of proper foot care and foot wear.

The exhibition, to be mounted at the Scienceworks Museum, Spotswood from early October is in three sections, all designed to illustrate that no matter the work or play activity, proper footwear and regular foot care is of paramount importance.

The “Feet of Fame” which includes positive mould replicas of the feet of such identities as Cathy Freeman (Olympic athlete and star of the 2000 Sydney Games), Corinella (children’s page editor, Herald Sun), Marilyn Rowe (Director, Australian Ballet School), Kathy Watt (former Olympic gold medal cyclist), Ms Christine Nixon (Commissioner of Police), Jason Koschitzke (AFL 2001 Rising Star), Dennis Walter (cabaret, television and radio personality), Steve Moneghetti (former Olympic marathon runner) and Humphrey Bear (Nine Network children’s favourite).

Subsequently the exhibit is to be progressively added to. International identities are to be invited to participate and ultimately it will become two separate exhibits – “Feet of Fame, Sporting” and “Feet of Fame, People in the Community”. It is also envisaged that each section will have a permanent home, accessible to the general public.

“The exhibition is part of Foot Health Week 2001,” Australian Podiatry Association (Vic) President, Matt Dilnot said. “This year the theme “care for your feet – they work overtime every day”, focuses on foot health in the workplace. In addition, and through the Scienceworks activities the Association also considers the education of young children on the correct footwear for particular activities, coupled with proper foot care from a young age, also a good place to start.”

“The Podiatry Association is grateful to the personalities who have contributed their time (and their feet) to this project. If we can get a positive message through to parents and young children through the Scienceworks exhibits, their respective time and efforts will be invaluable.”

“It is not generally known that we all take approximately 7000 steps every day and that on average we walk 128,000 kilometers (the equivalent of three times around the world) in a lifetime,” Mr Dilnot said. “To illustrate these factors to the young children attending the Scienceworks exhibition we have established a calculated walking pad. This will allow children to be educated on how far they may walk in a day, thus illustrating the importance of healthy feet to the human body”.

“Feet are the engine room of the human body. No matter the activity, at work or at play, our feet have a vital role, hence giving them proper care and the appropriate footwear for the respective activity is extremely important. Athletes, no matter the code competing in, must have good fitting, comfortable footwear that does not cause any fatigue or soreness. Likewise, a farmer working in the fields all day should be fitted with a good, strong work boot made of the appropriate materials for the task undertaken. Even more practical…..would you perform ballet in a pair of footy boots? No!  Why? Because the footwear does not match the footwork required”.

To increase their understanding and of proper footwear being important, children, through an interactive matching game are asked to match the appropriate footwear with the correct activity.

Correct footwear for different activities, both at work and at play are also included in the exhibition. Different occupational footwear such as safety boots for the workplace; ballet shoes; basketball boots for on-court activities; correct boots for farmers; ski boots, running shoes, fireman’s footwear and more are on display.

Why Humphrey Bear? -   Mr Dilnot was asked. “Through his regular television program on the Nine Network he is possibly the favourite (non-fiction) identity of Australia’s younger generations. In addition he has done the routine things in life….served in a pizza parlor; conducted an orchestra; assisted in a petrol station; done the gardening. All these are activities where correct footwear is important, hence we considered his inclusion, despite their gigantic size, in the “Feet of Fame exhibit very appropriate in reinforcing the message to young children in particular on the importance of foot health”.