ANTHROPOMETRIC STUDY OF FOOTPRINT AND FOOT TYPES AMONG IGBO STUDENTS OF MADONNA UNIVERSITY ELELE, RIVERS STATE NIGERIA

Anthropology is now one of the interdisciplinary scientific fields that is gaining much attention in forensic, socio-cultural, industrial and biomedical applications. The study aims to evaluate the footprint and foot-type among the Igbo students of Madonna University, Elele, Rivers state, Nigeria. A cross- sectional descriptive study design was adopted to sample 300 (150 males and 150 females) within the age of 18-30years using the simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected via a direct anthropometric method using a digital scanner (hp Scanjet 2650 model) and the data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. This study examined foot dimensions and biometric relationships among 300 individuals, revealing significant sexual dimorphism in parameters like height, right and left tangent lengths (RTL, LTL), right plantar width (RPW), heel widths (RHW, LHW), and right plantar arch index (RPAI), but no significant difference in age, weight, left plantar width (LPW), and left plantar arch index (LPAI). Correlation analysis showed that only RPW had a significant positive relationship with height, while other foot dimensions were largely independent of age and weight. Among males, RTL negatively correlated with height and weight, while RPAI positively correlated with height; no significant correlations were observed among females. Additionally, 98.7% of participants had normal feet, while only 1.3% had flat feet, and all had normal heels. In conclusion, the study highlights the presence of sexual dimorphism in specific foot dimensions and a minimal influence of biometric factors on foot parameters, with most participants exhibiting normal foot structure.