Variations of sitting posture and physical activity in different types of school furniture

Inadequate school furniture is frequently taken to be the reason of severe posture problems in adulthood. Therefore, chairs and desks used by children for considerable periods of time need to be evaluated carefully. In this study we investigated the postures and movement patterns of schoolchildren sitting on two distinctly different types of school furniture. The analysis of our observations and records showed numerous differences of movement patterns with respect to sex, age, and type of furniture. These results include overall movement frequencies, the possibility of choosing extreme postures in order to interrupt monotonous permanent positions, and freedom of movements for the legs. In general, the ordinary standardized school furniture under investigation turned out to meet the ergonomic demands better than a second type of furniture, which had been advertised to be especially "ergonomic". It can be concluded that the analysis of movement patterns offers additional criteria for the evaluation of the quality and suitability of school furniture.