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Comfy desks for kids

A comfortable, well-proportioned desk can go a long way towards keeping your kids healthy and happy while they’re doing their homework. A good desk not only helps them concentrate, but also influences their posture. And a tidy desk space is also good for your sanity.

As most school-going children spend at least five hours a day at a desk, it’s important to have a good look at your child’s work space at home. Hunching over an uncomfortable desk can only cause problems.

Wrong desk, poor performance
Andrew Todd, chairman of The Ergonomics Society of South Africa, notes that the way the child interacts with the seat and the desk is vital for comfort, wellbeing and productivity. “Ergonomics can and should play an important role in helping to optimise this environment,” Todd says.

Ergonomics is the science that investigates the compatibility between an adult or child and the equipment and workplace they’re using. In an environment where you’re required to sit for long periods of time, the interaction between your seat, your desk and you, the user, becomes key in terms of comfort, wellbeing and productivity. In the case of a child doing homework, a healthy ergonomic space becomes synonymous with better posture and better health.

Carly Tzanos, an occupational therapist and co-author of a self-published book on movement in children, agrees that if a child isn’t sitting comfortably at the correct-sized desk and chair, it can affect important work like writing.

However, the benefits of a well-designed desk aren’t just limited to better learning. It extends to the child’s posture and can even help prevent health problems such as chronic back pain.

Tzanos warns that sitting at a desk that’s either too high or too low, or on a chair that’s too low or one that isn’t compatible with the desk, could affect the child’s posture and attention span. It can even lead to long-term muscle problems. This can cause back, wrist, shoulder and neck strain.

Research shows that many children suffer from chronic back pain caused by sitting for long periods of time at desks that don’t fit them.

One study on school children between the ages of 12 and 15 found that a combination of uncomfortable school chairs, low desks and heavy backpacks contributed toward chronic back pain. The study showed that back pain also increased as the kids grew older. The researchers found that younger students reported less back pain (51.3% in Grade 7), while older children reported more back pain (67.3% in Grade 8). The study was published in the International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics (2013).

Another study on school children aged 10 to 15 found that the wrong size school desks led to neck pain in younger children. This and back problems in the teenage group were particularly high. It also showed that the discomfort forced children to frequently change their position, which led them to become used to poor posture. This study was published in the Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine Journal (2009).

How to choose the right desk and chair
Here’s what to look out for when choosing a desk for your child (note that the same “rules” apply, no matter what the child’s age):

• Desk height: An incorrect height may force the child to elevate their shoulders to position their forearms and hands in the correct position for drawing and writing. This is physically taxing and engages extra muscles to help keep the body stable, which leads to excess fatigue.

• Chair height: If the child's legs dangle from the chair, there’ll be no stability while sitting. Conversely, if the feet are flat on the floor, the base of support widens, providing the comfort necessary for concentration.

• Flatness of desk: A desk that’s too flat can cause a forward bend of the head, leading to muscle fatigue and neck pain.

• Slanted desktops: If the desk is too slanted for the child’s height, it can force a bowed, stooping position to maintain an appropriate reading distance. This can lead to back problems.

• Small desk surfaces: If the desk surface is too small, it can cause finger and palm problems from frequent ventriflexion (bending the hand from the wrist towards the floor) or dorsiflexion (raising the hand from the wrist upwards, away from the desk surface) and twisted movement at the wrist joint.

When it comes to choosing the correct desk size for your child, Tzanos advises you consider the following:

• The child should be seated with hips, knees and ankles at roughly a 90-degree angle.

• Some children benefit from a cushion, which angles their pelvis forward and encourages a more upright sitting posture.

• Other children benefit from raising or elevating their work surface (for instance, by working on an incline board) to encourage better wrist and arm position as well as trunk positioning.

Tips to keep a child’s desk tidy
Once you’ve found the right desk size, the next task to optimise learning is to ensure the desk is kept tidy.

Apart from being more visually appealing (keeping parents happy, too), a tidy desk has been shown to promote healthy eating and healthy behaviour patterns (such as generosity). A study by researchers from the University of Minnesota, published in Psychological Science (2013), found that just being in a clean room encouraged people to do what’s expected of them.

Tzanos firmly believes in the benefits of a neat and tidy desk, which she says is vital for ensuring work pace and task completion. The benefits include improved productivity levels, better attention and concentration (as a result of less visual clutter), improved fine motor accuracy and better overall posture.

Help your kids to keep their desks tidy with these simple tips:

• Supply a few containers in which to keep stationery and other bits and bobs. Neat cardboard boxes, tins and bowls work well.
• Provide basic stationary with which to organise work, including a stapler, paperclips, files, sticky notes and a paper punch.
• Add a pin board above the desk for notes and reminders.
• Make sure there’s a rubbish bin close at hand.
• Add a container of disinfectant wipes to the desk, so that it’s easy wipe after the day’s work is done.
• Add a bookshelf where files and books can be kept.
• Keep other objects to a minimum (e.g. toys, decorations and photo frames).
• Encourage your child to regularly discard old papers (make sure this gets recycled!).

References:
- Carly Tzanos, occupational therapist and co-author of Groovy Adventurers: http://jumpleapfly.co.za/
- The Ergonomics Society of South Africa: Andrew Todd, Chairman. http://www.ergonomicssa.com/
- US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684770/
- Red Orbit: Desks giving kids chronic back pain http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112954832/desks-giving-kids-chronic-back-pain-092313/
- National Education Association: Kids who can’t sit still http://www.nea.org/tools/47003.htm
- Association for Psychological Science: Tidy desk or messy desk? http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/tidy-desk-or-messy-desk-each-has-its-benefits.html

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