Originally Posted by yellow77
Not trying to troll - but it escapes me what the obvious health issue is here. I know people who barely ever put shoes on (ok, not in winter in the northern US) and live regular student city lives. They don't seem to suffer any health problems once their skin is nice and toughened. I don't do it myself, but not for health reasons (just don't have tough enough feet yet, though marathon running is getting me there). Several top marathoners run road marathons barefoot. So rather than take up the thread with a discussion of this since you all seem pretty much to agree, can someone point me to a scientific article discussing the health risks of not wearing shoes, since I just can't see what they are? Thanks.
It's not a health issue for the person who is barefoot, but for other people. If you have some kind of infection or other disgusting ailment on your foot - nobody wants to see that or have your foot exposed.