Health experts have often pointed out the dangers of wearing high-heel shoes, which has inevitably led many to the conclusion that ballet pumps or Uggs are two of the choices that are most beneficial from this perspective. Not quite so, podiatrists speaking with the Daily Mail warn, stressing that teenage girls are at bigger risk with these types of shoes because their bones are still developing when they start wearing them.

Although all three types of flat-soled shoes appear to be extremely comfortable, it could very well be that this only happens because they’re being compared with towering heels. In real life, these shoes are equally uncomfortable, even if we might not realize it at first, because they do not offer the proper support for the foot and can thus lead to foot, knee and back pain later in life. If they’re worn by teens, that risk almost doubles.

“It’s just disastrous. You have one pair of feet and need them for life, and yet teenagers today are wearing shoes which don’t support or protect them. We now have a whole generation who will run into huge health problems because of their footwear.” Emma Supple, podiatrist at Supplefeet in North London, tells the Mail. “Teenage girls in particular are storing up massive problems because the shoes they are wearing are often too flat and unsupportive.” Mike O’Neill of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists agrees.

Because these shoes have practically no heel (except for the original Uggs that come with enforced heels but that are not a viable option because they are too expensive, which prompts women to buy cheaper variants of lower quality), they make walking on hard surfaces (such as concrete) a constant strain that we place on our feet. Neither do they offer support for the foot with a design that would shape itself to the arch, which means this can also translate into an altered gait.

“Since so much of the world has now been Tarmaced over, we’re walking on hard, flat surfaces all day. These shoes don’t offer enough support for the foot itself – the arches, ligaments and muscles become stressed and strained. The body’s weight shifts and this abnormal loading of pressure can lead to cramping pain in the foot.” Supple explains. In order to prevent this, we should look for shoes that have a heel and a sole that absorbs some of the impact of stepping on hard surfaces.

Foot orthotics can also be inserted into the shoe to correct that which the shoe itself might damage, and thus the gait, podiatrists also say.