It’s BackCare Awareness Week this week – which focuses on school children and teachers – Rob voices his concern about children’s posture.
Heavy school bags are often blamed for causing back pain, but Rob also highlights the danger of a ‘new media’ filled lifestyle putting unnecessary stresses on our children’s backs and necks. He says; “Not only are children bent over their desks for a large part of the day, but in their spare time they are hunched over items such as smart phones, games consoles and iPads. These activities intensify the daily stress already put on our children’s backs. Moving is key, taking a regular break from a bent over posture to sit up or stand up will ease the pressures put through the spine. Even better would be to get up and walk around.”
Children and students often get stuck into their work, and can be hunched over a desk for many hours. Likewise, outside of studying it is easy to sit on the phone (talking, texting and emailing), gaming or watching TV, with little concept of time. All these activities promote poor posture, for example; leaning your head towards a phone handset or bending over a hand held device. Rob continues, “Our backs and necks are designed to flex in various directions, but being held for a length of time in any one position (especially when bent or twisted) is potentially damaging. Excess pressure is put through the spinal joints and extra stress placed on the muscles. Over time, the accumulation of this stress and pressure can result in an injury.”
Rob urges children and students to think about their posture and take regular breaks from these various activities to sit up, stand up and generally straighten up (every 20-30 minutes). If nothing else, simply sitting up in the chair and rolling their shoulders a number of times and gently stretching the neck before bending over again will help. Parents of smaller children should be aware of these issues and try to limit the time little ones spend slouching or sitting awkwardly.
