Women who choose high heels early in life suffer more foot pain later, according to a new study.

Researchers from Boston University and the Institute for Aging Research looked at more than 3,300 people taken from the massive, long-term Farmingham Study.

The people were asked if they had pain, aching or stiffness in their feet, and they were also asked where their feet hurt. They told what kind of shoes they typically wore during different parts of their lives.

Athletic shoes and casual sneakers were considered good choices, hard- or rubber-soled shoes were considered an average choice and high heels, sandals and slippers were considered poor choices.

One-quarter of the people said they have foot pain on most days, including 19 percent of men and 29 percent of women.

Nearly 64 percent of women who reported hind-foot pain regularly poor shoes at some point in their life.

The study also found that only 2 percent of men wore poor shoes.

"While more research is needed, young women should make careful choices regarding their shoe type to avoid hindfoot pain later in life, or perform stretching exercises to alleviate the effect of high heels on foot pain," researchers wrote.

Details of the study appeared in the October issue of Arthritis Care and Research.