School is the work place of the child. If it is important for adults to be properly supported when working at desks and computers, and there are government regulations to enforce this, then it must be even more important for children to be properly supported when sitting in school.

The difference in height between a small eleven year old and a tall sixteen year old is enormous, but they all have to use the same chairs and tables. This means that some children will not have their feet properly on the floor, while others will be cramped. The desk height will too high or too low for many of them.

The chairs are often cheap plastic with poor ergonomic design and no support.

Back pain in children and young people is increasing and is a recognised problem. Using poorly designed and wrong sized furniture is partly to blame. The long term health implications are alarming.

BackCare, the charity, have published a set of documents on back pain in children and young people, including a detailed survey of the research literature on the subject, and their recommendations on school furniture.

www.backcare.org.uk Shop, BackCare publications, booklets, Back Pain in Children Set