People can be either born with flat feet or develop the condition after injury or aging.

Normal babies are usually born with flat feet and do not develop a normal arch until ages 7 to 10 years.

Flat feet predict a variety of illnesses, such as stroke, depression, and lung disease.

Flat feet are usually treated with conservative care, with no surgery required.

In 1913, the term flatfoot was first used to refer to police officers who patrolled the streets on foot rather than in a vehicle. The reason for calling the officers flatfoots is that their arches often fell after years of patrol on foot. More apocryphal accounts suggest that the use of flatfoot to refer to a police officer was rooted in stigma: People denied from entering the military due to flat feet often joined the police instead.

However lighthearted the term flatfoot may seem, flat feet themselves can be problematic. People with severe cases—such as those whose feet overpronate when walking—can experience decreased quality of life and poor health.

Flat feet or pes planus occur when the medial........

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