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economist sun 18 stouffville tribune rrt thursday april 12 2001 staff photosjoerd witteveen physiotherapist sheryl winkler shows the correct computer posture to student jackie botham at newmarkets york rehab associates keepii1g it straight teaching kids how to position themselves at the computer can prevent injuries down the road bystefaniarizzi staff writer the day your children have been anxiously awaiting has finally arrived youve upgraded your ram added a dvd drive and signed up for the latest highspeed internet connection now the family computer has been updated you know your children are going to be sitting at the computer for hours on end every day but has any thought gone into teaching your child appropriate computer posture as children spend more and more hours at computers sitting in positions that put undue strain on their bodies north american researchers say they may be prone to muscle and jointrelated injuries most of the young patients are treated for back pain or neck pain and almost all are posturerelated with american statistics estimating the average child will spend more than two years of his life on email and more than 23 years on the web it is important children be taught appropriate comput er posture even before learning what the mouse does or how to print a page teaching children at an early age how to posi tion themselves in front of a computer could pre vent injury down the road said york rehab associates physiotherapist susan thiessen most of the young patients are treated for back pain or neck pain and almost all are posture- related said thiessen who has been practising more than 20 years if you look at young children preschoolers their head sits perfectly on top of their shoulders and they have a curve in their back the aurora res ident said once they learn to read get into video games or sit at the computer all that gets thrown out of whack we should try to sit properly as much as possible because once the wear and tear happens the damage is not reversible for the most part what we usually see then is the rounded back the slump forward and the shoulders then have to hold up the neck which causes a lot of muscle strain and puts strain at the top of the neck said thiessen adding this posture can cause headaches and lead to low back pain we should try to sit properly as much as pos sible because once the wear and tear happens the damage is not reversible for the most part to avoid injury such as computerrelated repet itive strain injury thiessen and newmarkets southlake regional health centre physiotherapy specialist betty trach agreed body posture and equipment should be ergonomically correct when working at a computer station the feet should be placed flat on the ground or on a footrest with the back fully supported by a chair if the chair cannot be adjusted to support the back properly thiessen recommends a cushion or rolled towel be placed in the curve of the back the monitor should be placed direcuy in front of you about 20 to 30 inches away trach said you should be able to focus comfortably on the screen without having to lean forward or pull away to focus the physiotherapist said if the terminal on the desk surface is too low elevate it so ifs high enough that youre not crouching down when the head or body does not have to twist to see the computer screen you know youre in a good position thiessen added if youre always working on one side you get joints and muscles that are tight and you end up unbalanced and then you get pain she explained you should be sitting in a neutral position both experts agree computer users should take frequent breaks to relax muscles joints and eyes they should also do stretching exercises postureperfect below are several examples of the sitting posture of choice for both children and adults as recommended by physiothera pists spine should be in an upnght position with shoulders atop hips lower back should have a slight hollow with the backrest of the chair supporting the lower back and pelvis head should be balanced and ears aligned with the shoul ders upper arms should be in an approximate vertical position with lower arms at a 90degree honzontal angle at the elbow so wnsts wont bend to the side when typing feet should be placed flat on the floor or on a footrest legs and hips should be perpendicular to the spine 6 months no interest no payments xdmowrooni a n t i qjj s refinished beyond compare plantation country piiiebedrpoifi suite includes queen bed mens chest ladies chest trif6ld mirror and night table m saleprice mdii i htmk rfv uirmfzmmm m r v j