Foot arch determines the shape of the foot, whether it is normal, flat or high. Excessive body weight is known to be the
main factor in altering the foot arches. The foot arches of adult women were determined based on five different footprint
parameters (Clarke index, Chippaux-Smirak index, Staheli index, Arch index and the Harris-imprint index) and the
relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and foot arches were studied. A total of 309 adult women from the age of
20 to 60 years were recruited in this study. The shape of participants’ feet were obtained and their left and right foot
arches were determined using five different footprint parameters. Body weight and height were measured and BMI was
calculated. Paired t-test and one-way ANOVA were applied to perform the statistical analysis. Our analysis showed that
two third of the participants have different foot arches between the left and right feet. The Harris-imprint index exhibited
the most significant (p=0.004) differences between the left (mean=0.168) and right (mean=1.011) foot arches. Most of
the overweight (53%) and obese (15%) participants have normal arches; however the prevalence of flat and high arches
is still higher in overweight (flat arch= 51%; high arch= 52% ) and obese (flat arch= 18%; high arch= 12%) compared
to other BMI categories. Harris-imprint index was successfully studied as a suitable parameter in determining the left
and right foot arches.