Ergonomics for Children and

Youth
Dr.Sameera Rasool
 Classroom design. The organization of
furniture ,materials , equipment, and activity
space in the classroom.
 Learning environments.
 Places where organized teaching and learning

occur.
 Anthropometrics. The study of body

dimensions.
 Children’s learning environments are an
emerging area in ergonomics.
 what happens to the musculoskeletal system of
children who sit for hours in front of the
computer or at a desk in the classroom is still
being investigated.
 Children encounter learning environments at
school, home, and the library, usually sitting at a
desk or in front of the computer. Besides the
learning stations, children carry the environment
with them in school backpacks and bags
THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
 Computer Environment
 Electronic media use by children has increased

over the past 15 years

 In these survey results, girls and boys used

computers with similar frequency, but race and

socioeconomic status affected use.
 Daily use time has not been characterized

consistently yet.
 Us survey shows that child used a computer for

34 minutes a day, the Internet for 14 minutes,

and a video game for 33 minutes
 one Australian study of notebook use,
average daily use in the past month was 3.2
hours; the highest total daily use reported
was 15 hours
 Electronic or video game use is also frequent

and common. However, unlike video games,

computers and the Internet are considered by
parents to be a resource for their children’s
education and enrichment as well as
entertainment
 92% of mothers believing that the Web is a
great tool for their children and 53% saying
that the Web has brought their family closer
together.
 The question is whether the extensive time

children spend on computers affects their

health. If it does, can the furniture and
equipment they use be adjusted to their
needs, or should access or other activity be
adjusted to keep them safer
 Research in adults points to the relationship
between extensive computer use and the
development of musculoskeletal disorders
(MSDs
 Researchers have described children working

with computers in awkward postures that are

considered risk factors for musculoskeletal
system.
 Average students used a notebook computer

for 3.2 hours daily

 students reported that at home they are
mostly sitting on the floor, lying prone, or
sitting in a beanbag chair. At school the
postures were mostly sitting at a desk. These
postures probably place the children in
awkward postures
 60% of those surveyed reported discomfort

from using or carrying their notebook

computer.
Classroom Environment
 Schoolchildren are one group of workers who
appear to be particularly at risk for
musculoskeletal strain related to sitting because
of their wide range of body size leading to
furniture mismatch, combined with prolonged
seated posture.
 In the classroom, students do much of their work

while sitting—listening to the teacher, looking at

the blackboard, copying from the blackboard or
free writing, doing group work, and more.
Performance of these activities affects how
children sit (e.g., writing vs. copying from the
board).
 Most of the time (57%) seated was spent
leaning forward (for activities such as writing
and reading), and rest leaning (such as
watching the teacher or the board)
 In a recent study of 8-year-olds in Germany

it was observed that children spent an

average of 97% of the lesson time sitting
statically, one third of the time with the trunk
bent forward more than 45 degrees
 Because children vary so greatly in size, over
the years and within the same ages, much of
the ergonomic research on children in
learning environments has focused on the
potential mismatch between children and
their classroom furniture.
 A growing body of evidence implicates school

furniture size and design in back pain and

other symptoms in children
 furniture should be organized according to
size not age.
 good posture in sitting is important in the
prevention of back strain in children and adult
but this is hard to achieve without the support
of adjusted chairs and tables. Furniture design
aside, notable classroom seating problems
have been described, such as children sitting
with their backs or their sides to the teacher,
which requires twisting during lessons.
 Mandal recommended that a chair be at least
one third the height of the person using it
and the desk at least one half the height of
the person using it.
 1 study emphasized adjustable tabletops and

the importance of proper chair backrests.

 it is assumed that chairs and desks in the
classroom fit all children; however,
adjustability and variability of furniture are
still needed to satisfy the child’s postural and
educational needs.
QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE SEATED
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
 Questions for the Clinician
 Computer work is associated with upper back

and shoulder pain related to raising the arms to

reach a keyboard or mouse, to back pain
because of extended sitting, to hand, wrist, and
forearm disorders because of use of the hand
while rotated, and to neck pain because of
sustained tilted postures
 One approach to assessing ergonomics risks is

to ask whether and where the individual has

pain, discomfort, or numbness.
 The type and location of the symptoms can
indicate which aspect of the environment is
causing the problem
 If a child has neck symptoms, monitor height

must be assessed,as well as seated demands,

such as twisting to see the board.
 If shoulder or upper back symptoms are

reported, the height of the writing surface or

keyboard placement could be the cause
 Shoulder symptoms, along with those in the
forearm, wrist, or hand, could indicate a
problem with the distance or angle of the
surface or computer control devices
 How far the mouse is from the side of the

user and how far forward it is, the angle in

which the keyboard or mouse places the
hands, and how strongly the child holds the
mouse or hits the keys will need to be
assessed.
 Handwriting demands including grip angle
and force can also contribute to symptoms in
the hands and forearms
 Back pain could be related to chair and table

mismatch, to inadequate back or foot

support.
 Parents, teachers, and school districts will

want to know exactly how the computer or

workstation should be set up
 A good workstation is one that allows all users of
that station to sit with the neck fairly straight,
looking slightly down at the work, with the
shoulders relaxed and the arms close to the body
and supported for extended work
 forearms should not be rotated or the wrists

deviated.
 The feet should be supported on the ground

or a footrest, and the back supported by a rest

that allows the person to lean back or stretch as
desired.
 For home and dedicated school workstations,
the furniture should be selected and adjusted
to the child and changed as he or she grows
 If symptoms appear What else is this child

doing?
 A healthy amount of physical activity and a

varied set of activities throughout the day are

important for all aspects of health—physical,
psychologic, and cognitive
Questions for the Researcher
 Collect thorough updated anthropometric data,
and apply them to furniture for children and
youth at school and home.
 Conduct epidemiologic studies to investigate the
effect of various learning environments and
workstations on children’s health.
 Systematically explore ergonomic issues and
identify possible risk factors for MSDs in
children.
 Provide guidelines for children’s furniture
design.
 Provide education for school staff and
parents in ergonomic principles and their
relevance to furniture and work habits
 Influence school, national, and international

guidelines for matching furniture to children

not on the basis of age alone, but according
to gender, ethnic background, and other
contributors to size and task differences.
 Examine the best way to integrate ergonomic

intervention programs at school

 Develop physical education programs to
reduce the impact of the learning
environment.
 provide preventive work habit education. This

can include how to set up a good workstation

for writing, reading, and computer use, how
to select and arrange the chair relative to the
working surface, and how to maintain
musculoskeletal health while studying and
working
CARRYING SCHOOLBAGS
 Students don’t just sit, they also carry.
Parents, students, teachers, and clinicians
have expressed concerns about schoolbags
 Problems related to schoolbags include the

weight of the bag, how it is packed, and how

it is carried
 Explore the risk factors associated with

schoolbag use and provide recommendations

to reduce these factors
Musculoskeletal Symptoms and
Complaints
 Children report discomfort, aches, and pain
in their neck, shoulders, and back associated
with carrying a heavy schoolbag
 Muscle weakness, tingling in the arms,

stooped posture, and headaches have also

been reported as associated with carrying a
heavy schoolbag
 signs are reported at the shoulder girdle,

caused by the bag’s straps, or at the palms in

cases of carrying a trolley.
Main Concerns and Causes for the
Complaints
 recommendations for backpack use by adults
were to limit the weight to 10% to 15% of
body weight measured loads carried by
children are frequently higher
 students carried an average of 22% of their

body weight
 What is so wrong with those overweight bags?
 How do they harm our children?
 The main areas of concern are fatigue, both

to specific muscles, causing irritation or

injury, and to the whole system; postural
constraint leading to stressful
accommodation affecting the musculoskeletal
system in the short run; and long-term or
developmental impacts on the spine
 Heavier backpacks are associated with
increased pain and discomfort symptoms
 Haig and colleagues did not find a significant

association between backpack use and pain.

 This could suggest that the heavy bags do

not cause strain, or more likely that the strain

is not linearly related to weight or is not
experienced identically by all students
 The way the backpack is worn and its impact
on posture
 Study demonstrated a correlation between

positioning of the bag and the posture.

 Positioning of the bag higher has the largest

negative effect on posture, which may affect

the development of the spine. Positioning the
bag on the lower spine, close to the body’s
center of gravity, has the least effect on
posture
 The impact on posture of the way the bag is
carried was examined
 carrying the bag on both shoulders has the

least potential for harm.

 However, carrying a heavy bag causes

students to lean forward in order to balance

the body against the bag’s weight. This
compensation had a greater effect when the
subjects carried a bag that weighed 15% of
the body weight.
Controls
 Reducing weight and postural demands are
the main issues when dealing with
schoolbags and children and adolescents
 Those recommendations are described

according to the classic distribution of

controls: engineering, administrative, and
work practice controls
Engineering controls
 Engineering controls, are “changes to the
workstation, equipment or tools”
 In the case of schoolbags, the design, size,

and weight of the bags themselves are

engineering controls
 Achieving engineering controls may require

educating manufacturers
 On examination of the schoolbag design, we
should have a look at three components: the
back of the bag, the straps, and the handles
 The back of the bag should be firm and
padded. It should prevent or adequately reduce
the pressure on the child’s back. The level of
the bag should be adjusted to the child’s back.
 The straps should be padded and adjustable.
 The bag handles should be smooth and
comfortable for handling, without any rough
edges or sharp angles.
The bag size is another element of the
engineering controls
 the size of the bag should be as follows:

height: 40 ± 2 cm (16 ±3/4 in), width 29 ± 1

cm (11 ± 1/2 in). If there is a waist or hip
belt, it should be at least 50 mm (2 in) wide.
The straps should be 30 mm (11/4 in) wide
or more. Lightweight materials are preferred
Administrative controls
 Administrative controls are “decisions made
by management to reduce the duration,
frequency, and severity of exposure to
existing hazards.
 Applying this method of control requires

collaboration between teachers and students

 Controlling the weight of the bag’s contents

is the most obvious administrative control

 Rather than carrying large books every day, it is
recommended that books and fi les be
organized not as one unit but in subunits. Using
this approach, children will carry only what they
need for that particular day.
 Homework should be given in separate sheets,

so students will bring only the papers they

need.
 Having books and assignments on computer

disks or using websites and e-mail can reduce

excess weight
 Other solutions
 such as using drawers and lockers that will allow
students to leave part of their school books,
equipment, or tools at school
 Another attempt to diminish the effect of
schoolbag weight on children is having two sets
of books: one for home use and another at
school.
 This requires financial resources that might not
be applicable to every setting and school system.
Work practice controls
 Work practice controls are (1) safe and proper
work techniques and (2) fitness and
flexibility
 Educating parents and their children is

essential
 We should instruct the students about right

packing, to pack only what is needed for that

particular day, to place heavy contents at the
back of the bag, and to keep the contents in
balance.
 Carrying the bag is the next issue to address
 Appropriate schoolbag carrying means

keeping both straps on both shoulders

 Adjust the straps in a way that will make the

bag sit properly on the child’s back, meaning

the lower part of the bag will be located
around the lumbar curve of the spine.
 Straps should be short enough to keep the

bag close to the back, but not so short or

tight as to discourage using both straps
 Hip and chest straps help distribute the weight
and maintain stability
 Work practice controls can also include making

sure students don’t carry bags when they don’t

need them
 Adequate physical activity to maintain

cardiovascular and musculoskeletal strength is

also important.
 Finally, educating parents, school administrators,

and teachers is essential in reducing overuse

syndrome caused by carrying schoolbags