Learning and practicing good work habits and the
ergonomics of body posture at a young age is
essential. In an age where greater
academic and achievement demands are being
placed on our children, and a time where there
is more focus on information, kids are spending
more time at desks and computers than in
previous generations. The advent of
repetitive stress injuries and posture related
pain highlights the need for good ergonomic
practices.
It's never too early to start children off
with good posture and work habits.
Teaching principles of posture and good work
habits at a young age can assist the child
enormously in developing the core skills for
building on in terms of learning and
performance. Consider this: how
often do you see advertisements, articles in
magazines or school classrooms where kids are
sitting on furniture that is too large for them,
feet swinging, looking 'up' at a large computer
monitor far too high for them? The
environment is largely built around adult sizes,
and kids are expected often to cope with
furniture and systems in an 'adult' world.
Ergonomics and posture is in most cases
neglected when it comes to children.
Some of the most important considerations
regarding posture and work are:
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Stabilizing proximal joints often results in improved quality and accuracy of distal joints.
HIP: If the hip joint is well
stabilized, the rest of the spine and trunk
will be more stable. As a result, both
the arms as well as head can be held in a
more stable position. ARM:
If the arm is stabilized at the elbow (elbow
leaning on table), the rest of the forearm
will be more controlled for writing.
The shoulder is a large multiaxis joint
which allows large range of motion of the
full arm. If the elbow is not well
stabilized, movement from the shoulder can
interfere markedly with the speed and
accuracy of the writing process. |
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The
'leaning forward' posture
is the best functional position for work.
Given an angled seat cushion, the
trunk and body leans forward for active task involvement.
The hips and upper legs are angled forwards resulting in center of gravity and weight distribution over pelvis and upper legs.
In this position, the lumbar (lower)
part of the spine maintains its
correct curve (curved in at the
back) instead of being the rounded
back we see in so many children who
sit on plastic chairs in school
classrooms.
The 'forward' leaning position also
places the head and eyes in a good
position for looking at work on the
table. |
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| While working, feet should be on the
floor, arms should be rested on the table. |
| The desk or table top should be only 1
to 2" above the students bent elbow, the
seat depth should be such that the child can
sit all the way back in their seat and still
have room to comfortably bend their knees at
a 90 degree angle, and the seat should
provide support in the back high enough to
reach slightly above the child's shoulder
blades.
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