SIZING IT UP

How our body parts can change

This week: feet

GAIN more than a few pounds and you might not just go up a clothing size, but a shoe size, too.

‘You don’t gain fat in the feet, but the extra weight on your body increases pressure on the feet — and that makes them spread,’ says Tariq Khan, a podiatrist at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. Feet also increase in size with age. A 2016 study found the width of the ball of a woman’s foot goes up by 3.1 mm to 4 mm per decade. The study didn’t look at male feet, but Dr Khan says there is probably a similar pattern. ‘Pregnant women can also find their feet grow about half a size bigger,’ he says. ‘The hormone relaxin, produced during pregnancy, can loosen joints and ligaments, allowing foot bones to spread. It is permanent.’