Your Child's Posture

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Your Child's Posture

In most households which have a computer, the same chair seats a 6-foot tall father and the 3-foot tall child! This is not a healthy situation for the growing spine of the child.

Improper posture can create pain, pain creates immobility which further creates degeneration and thereby creating all the more pain. It's a vicious cycle. Educating parents and kids on safe practices is the key, since a child's bone structure develops till he reaches the age of 18.

Recent statistics have pointed out that on an average, a child spends at least one hour a day on the computer. The number of hours increases during holiday. An improper posture thereby puts kids at risk for wrist, neck, back and shoulder problems.

The following points should be borne in mind by parents of children who use computers.

Seat your child comfortably in a chair that has a solid back support with legs extended not more than 3-4 finger lengths from the back of knee to the end of the chair. To accommodate the child, the chair should be able to be lowered, swiveled and be locked at different angles.

Feet should be in front of the seat and placed flat on the ground. If the child's feet are dangling then they should be rested on the small stool or maybe a phone book.

Shoulders and arms should be relaxed with elbows at a 90-degree angle to the body.

Repetitive strains to the neck, shoulders or wrist can occur if the wrists are not properly positioned while typing. Wrists should not be bent up or down. And a child should keep circling his wrists at regular intervals.

When the child is using the computer, the screen should be properly adjusted so that his eye level is parallel to the top of the computer screen.

Ask your child to take a break after every 15 minutes to rest his eyes. Ask him to focus on an object 20-40 feet away, for 10-20 seconds.

There should be plenty of natural light in the computer room to prevent computer glare, which creates eyestrain.

Computer screens should be placed at an appropriate distance from the body. 17-inch screens should be at arms length and 19-inch screens should be 7-8 inches further than arms length.

If these practices are followed by the parents as well as kids, the physical hazards relating to computers get reduced considerably.

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