Mismatch of classroom furniture and student body dimensions

Parcells, Claudia; Stommel, Manfred; Hubbard, Robert P.

doi:10.1016/s1054-139x(98)00113-x

Cited by 227 publications

(221 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Poorly designed school furniture may lead to bad posture habits which may have a direct impact on the growth process because they are likely to remain unchanged into adolescence or adulthood (Gonçalves, 2012;Gouvali and Boudolos, 2006;Panagiotopoulou et al, 2004;Parcells et al, 1999). Accordingly with Molenbroek et al (2003) and Parcells et al (1999) bad posture may lead to back, leg, arm, neck, shoulder and feet pain in school age children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite these contradictory findings between studies and in a prevention perspective we considered important to take account of the hypothesis described by Molenbroek et al (2003) and Parcells et al (1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The primary goal of school furniture, in particular chairs and desks, is to promote comfort and good posture and thus enhance school performance (Castellucci et al, 2014b;Domljan et al, 2010;Gonçalves, 2012;Guat-Lin, 1984;Moro, 2005;Parcells et al, 1999). In their consideration of child anthropometry, many authors (Castellucci et al, 2015;Gonçalves, 2012;Molenbroek et al, 2003;Panagiotopoulou et al, 2004;Parcells et al, 1999) have commented that school furniture should be adapted to the anthropometric changes that take place during growth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For its part, Reis et al (2005) shows that the Brazilian Standard is not fully implemented in terms of its practical application, revealing that Brazilian schools only use a single size of chairs and school desks for 7e17 years old leading to inadequate postures and musculoskeletal pathologies. Parcells et al (1999) concludes that the furniture used in some North American schools is unsuitable with less than 20% of the students having a chair and desk compatible with their anthropometric dimensions. It can be seen, therefore, that there is a poor relationship between the actual anthropometric measures of each country and the dimensioning considered by their particular standards.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Proposal for a universal measurement system for school chairs and desks for children from 6 to 10 years old

2017

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a b s t r a c tIn a primary education classroom of any country, children of the same age have very different statures, reaching variations of 200 mm (Gonçalves, 2012). However, the school furniture provided is not suitable or adaptable to these differences. Designing school furniture able to respond to these variations is, therefore, a challenge for ergonomics and design in a global market. It is clearly not viable for industries to adapt productions for each country. When competitiveness and limitation of resources are essential for the viability of any product it becomes essential to find a universal system adapted to the requisites of any country.Taking as prescription measure the popliteal height obtained from the data of different countries, a universal measurement system for the school chair and desk set is proposed, combining the ellipse methodology used by Molenbroek et al. (2003) and the (mis)match equations mentioned by Castellucci et al. (2014b).From the results obtained, it can be concluded that only 5 sizes are needed to implement this new measurement system of evolutionary school furniture for the primary education classroom.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Proposal for a universal measurement system for school chairs and desks for children from 6 to 10 years old

2017

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“…Further, the limited literature has indicated that the school environment exposes children to the possible loading factors with respect to prolonged poor sitting [18,23] and absence of appropriate furniture [19,22,24,25]. Therefore, the school system represents an ideal setting for back pain prevention since it has the potential of optimizing environmental conditions in relation to spinal loading and giving prolonged feedback with regard to good body mechanics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back posture education in elementary schoolchildren: a 2-year follow-up study

et al. 2006

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Within the scope of primary prevention regarding back functioning in children, research on the stability of intervention effects is indispensable. Along this line, the transition from childhood to adolescence is an important phase to evaluate the potential stability of intervention effects because of the typically mechanical and psychological demands related to adolescence. The main aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of a back education program at 2-year follow-up, in youngsters aged 13-14 years, on back posture knowledge, fear-avoidance beliefs and self-reported pain. An additional purpose was to evaluate which aspects of postural behavior were integrated in youngsters' lifestyles. At 2-year followup, the study sample included 94 secondary schoolchildren in the intervention group (mean age 13.3 ± 0.8 years) and 101 controls (mean age 13.2 ± 0.7 years). The back posture program that had been implemented for two school years consisted of back education and the stimulation of postural dynamism in the class through support and environmental changes. A questionnaire was completed comparable to the pretest, posttest and follow-up evaluations. The current study demonstrated at 2-year follow-up stability of the improved general (F = 1.590, ns) and specific (F = 0.049, ns) back posture knowledge in children who had received early back posture education. Back posture education did not result in increased fearavoidance beliefs (F = 1.163, ns) or mounting back and/or neck pain reports (F = 0.001, ns). Based on selfreports for postural behavior, youngsters who had received the back posture program in the elementary school curriculum integrated crucial sitting and lifting principles conform to biomechanical favorable postural behavior. The steady intervention effects 2-year postintervention demonstrated that intensive back posture education through the elementary school curriculum is effective till adolescence. Future research on the impact of early school-based back posture promotion in relation to the integration of back posture principles according to a biomechanical favorable lifestyle and back pain prevalence later in life is essential.

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Effect of Cognitive Load on Seating Posture in Children

Igarashi

Karashima

Hoshiyama

2015

Occupation Therapy Intl

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Although children are frequently required to sit upright, it is often difficult to maintain this posture when performing cognitive tasks. Information about the relationship between a cognitive tasks and postural seating control is important for children to complete tasks more effectively. To determine the muscle activity and body sway of children in a seated posture while performing a cognitive task, changes in muscle activity and center of pressure (COP) were recorded while 4 th grade children performed arithmetic tasks. Electromyography was recorded from the internal oblique and lumbar multifidus muscles, and the COP was recorded using a baropodometer placed on the stool. These variables were measured during easy (EA) and difficult (DA) arithmetic tasks. EMG activity decreased during the EA and DA tasks, while the COP was displaced in the DA task. The results of the arithmetic tasks were not related to the EMG or COP changes. Attention to maintain a seated posture may be reduced when children perform cognitive tasks. Therefore, it may be better to allow children to alter their posture especially when they are performing difficult tasks. In this research, we only used arithmetic tasks as the cognitive exercise, and therefore, other types of tasks should be examined.

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Mismatch of classroom furniture and student body dimensions

Cited by 227 publications

References 14 publications

Proposal for a universal measurement system for school chairs and desks for children from 6 to 10 years old

Proposal for a universal measurement system for school chairs and desks for children from 6 to 10 years old

Back posture education in elementary schoolchildren: a 2-year follow-up study

Effect of Cognitive Load on Seating Posture in Children

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