Postural disorders produced by inadequate school furniture on a population of a junior high school

Musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain are among the most common pathologies in the world. The incorrect postural habits during life, in particular at the age of 8-10 years, when the spinal column shapes the final structure of the body is the main factor of these pathologies. In this period of life young people spend most of their time sitting, whether in the classroom or at home. Therefore, our attention focused on the adequacy of school furniture for the correct development of the adult posture. The standing posture of students of middle school has been analyzed at the beginning and at the end of two consecutive scholastic years using a stabilometric platform. Starting from the second year, about half of them have been provided with the furniture designed according to the guidelines of the European community (UNI EN 1729:2006), while the other half maintained the traditional one. We observed that prolonged sitting at school induces important posturometric changes in schoolchildren. Such pathological alterations can be avoided whether the banks are built with the possibility to correct four parameters at the beginning of each scholastic year. In particular, it is fundamental to avoid that the school chairs have a straight backrest. It should be adapted to the physiological concavity of spinal cord.