Back-to-school blues more than growing pains

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX

Research confirms what many students will be thinking as they head to class this week - school can be a pain in the backside.

After surveying almost 200 teenage Palmerston North students last year, Massey University ergonomics expert Professor Stephen Legg found that school furniture is not flexible enough for growing bodies.

Continual use is uncomfortable and probably explains why a high proportion report having pain up and down their backs, he said.

Professor Legg, director of the university's Centre for Ergonomics, is continuing research that has previously identified heavy school bags as a potential problem.

It found that students suffered back pains after lugging around an average of 6.6kg of textbooks, laptops and sport gear every day.

His latest survey found that 96 per cent of students were mismatched to their school furniture. Many sat in seats that were too high to put their feet on the floor. That can put pressure on the thighs and reduce bloodflow in the students' legs.

Most of the seats were too shallow for the bottoms sitting in them, and the tables were generally too high, which forced the students into a hunched position, which could lead to neck and upper back pain.

Professor Legg was not surprised by the results. Similar studies in the US have already identified school furniture as a problem.

"This is of great concern because the strongest predictor of having future back pain is often considered to be a previous history of such symptoms," he said.

"But I tend to be a bit cautious about this, as really it is just one factor."

He said other causes included the weight of backpacks and time that children spent in front of computers.

He believes the solution lies in "dynamic seating" - modern furniture designed to ensure the user avoids sitting in fixed postures.

Professor Legg said New Zealand companies already made this kind of furniture, but none with schoolchildren specifically in mind.

"And the trouble is, as we heard from the schools we visited to research this, those desks and chairs are jolly expensive.

"The solution is probably to go for something in between fixed and adjustable. Maybe work on getting the teachers and the students to get into their head to choose a desk and chair combination that accommodates their body size better."

He said he was in discussion with at least one company that was working on a more suitable range of school desks and chairs.

Kirsten Davie, president of the New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists, said there had been quite a lot of work done looking at the school furniture. Students had been "coming through the doors" with problems caused by school furniture.

"We realise the dilemma the schools are in, but if they [students] feel better about where they are sitting in class you are going to get a lot more out of them."

Students were vulnerable during their growth years and also with slouching, Ms Davie said.

Ethnic groups who were larger or had earlier growth spurts might be more prone to problems.

Sport helped prevent the problems by strengthening students' muscles.

Ashburton College year 11 student Hannah Rutland said she started getting back pain at school last year.

"My feet can touch the floor okay but the chairs are crappy and not that comfy. They have arches in the back that you can't help but slouch into."

She has had to get back massages to help ease the pain.