["The body-consciousness in school"--a back pain-school]. / "Kroppen med i skolen"--et skole-ryg-projekt.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the extent of back pain in a school population and to evaluate if it was possible to minimize the number of complaints by increasing the body-consciousness in school children and education of pupils, teachers, and parents. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective, controlled interventional study in two comparable schools with pupils from pre-school up to and including ninth level. All pupils and their parents completed a questionnaire before and after the intervention. RESULTS: The share of pupils with back pain increased in the older age groups, whereas the frequency of physical activity decreased. Pupils who disliked going to school had more frequently back pain than pupils who liked going to school, and pupils who liked going to school were more physically active. There was a correlation between the back pain of the pupils and that of their parents. The intervention did not have any effect on the back pain of the pupils or their parents. DISCUSSION: There was no significant effect of the intervention, which might be explained by the relatively short time of implementation and unexpected practical problems at the school. The base-line values showed a correlation between age and back pain and between back pain and "do not like going to school". The frequency of physical activity decreased in the older age groups. Physically active pupils liked best going to school. There is a uniformity in the complaints of the parents and children and their reaction to the symptoms.

A comparative study of three different kinds of school furniture.

Several studies indicate that the ISO standards for school furniture seem to be inappropriate, and there is increasing evidence that the inclination of the seat should be forward and that it should be possible to adjust the table-top to a certain non-horizontal angle. However, these studies have predominantly used objective measurement methods on adult subjects for short-term experiments in rather artificial surroundings. By means of structured interviews registering the school children's perception of ergonomic comfort, the present study has compared three types of school furniture-the original ISO-standard type, and two different new types characterized by forward slanting seats and tiltable desk-tops, the main difference between the two being approximately 15 cm in the height of the chair as well as the table. The study showed that the highest of the two tilting types was perceived to be significantly better than the two others in terms of table height, chair height, reading position, back-rest, and global assessment. Likewise, the feature of a tiltable table-top was considered overwhelmingly positive independently of the height of the furniture. It is recommended that school authorities, producers of school furniture, and relevant medical personnel consider these results for alternative designs of school furniture. It should be kept in mind, however, that school furniture is only one among many factors in the multifactorial field of the back health of school children.