Comparative Analysis of Foot Temperature Associated with the Use of Sports and School Footwear in Children Aged 9 and 10 Years

Background/Objectives: Children’s footwear plays a key role in foot protection and development, influencing both mechanical and thermal comfort. However, there is limited evidence on how different types of footwear affect foot thermoregulation in the pediatric population. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the thermal pattern of the pediatric foot and to compare temperature differences in plantar and dorsal regions following the use of school and sports footwear. Methods: A total of 108 schoolchildren (61 girls and 47 boys), with a mean age of 9.46 ± 0.52 years, participated in the study. A non-randomized within-participant repeated-measures crossover design was used, in which each participant was assessed wearing both types of footwear on two separate days, with each child therefore serving as their own control. Thermographic measurements were performed using a Flir® E60bx camera (FLIR Systems, Wilsonville, OR, USA) after 3 h of school activity. Footwear conditions were compared within each region of interest (ROI) of the plantar and dorsal surfaces using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, with Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Results: Regardless of the footwear used, the highest temperatures were recorded in the medial longitudinal arch on the plantar surface and in the lateral region on the dorsal surface, whereas the lowest temperatures were observed in the fifth toe on both surfaces. Sports footwear was associated with higher mean temperatures than school footwear in all ROIs (0.61 to 0.95 °C). After FDR correction, significant differences remained only in the medial and lateral dorsal regions (+0.95 and +0.94 °C, respectively; q = 0.0139), whereas none of the plantar differences remained significant. A strong period effect was also observed, with foot temperatures 1.28 to 2.24 °C higher at the second visit regardless of footwear; after adjusting for this effect, temperatures remained higher with sports footwear in all ROIs (0.71 to 1.04 °C). Conclusions: The pediatric foot exhibited a consistent thermal pattern across footwear conditions. However, sports footwear was associated with an approximately 1 °C higher temperature in the medial and lateral regions of the dorsal foot, an effect that persisted after accounting for the period effect. These findings underscore the importance of thermoregulatory properties in children’s footwear selection.