School furniture prompts concern

Press, 17 June 1986, Page 24

School furniture prompts concern

PA New Plymouth . Poorly designed school desks and chairs are causing spinal problems in pupils, according to physiotherapists. A former Taranaki Base Hospital physio-

therapist Mrs Mary Rose raid on Saturday that physiotherapists at the hospital had been concerned about the number of school-age patients with spinal problems. A recent study of 576 Auckland third-formers attributed many of the problems to school desks and seats too small for thepupils using them. Of the 576 students surveyed, 30 per cent said they had experienced back or neck pain. Using a number of measurements including

standing height, sitting height, upper arm length, upper leg length and lower leg length, the report .■ showed standard school desks were 10cm too low for average students.

Equipment was big enough for fewer than 1 per cent of the pupils surveyed. Chairs and desks were poorly designed, providing insufficient support for healthy posture. Mrs Rose raid physiotherapists wanted the public to know that school desks were causing problems for some students. She raid parents should exert pressure through parent teacher associations, school committees and boards to have the situation improved.

“Much permanent damage can be done during the growing years and it can be largely prevented by gradually replacing school furniture with correct designs,” she said. Problems were even worse for senior pupils, many of whom had reached full height by the time they left school. An Education Department spokesman in Wellington said the department was aware of the situation. A report had just been received by the director of the department’s building section.

The spokesman raid replacing all the standard desks in New Zealand’s schools would be an enormous job.