Pupils shoulder burden of bad posture
Children are stooping because they spend hours slumped over desks, carry heavy school bags and do not take enough exercise, researchers say.
A survey of 296 parents of primary schoolchildren found almost one in three reported their child had symptoms of 'round shoulder' such as back, neck or shoulder pain.
However more than two in three parents were unable to identify the causes of the problem correctly.
The vice-chairman of the Chiropractic Doctors Association of Hong Kong, Alexander Ling Hsiao-wang, said sitting correctly at a desk called for a lot of right angles: at the elbows, the hips, the knees and the ankles. Children may need foot rests and back cushions to help them achieve good posture in an adult chair, he said.
He called for greater parent education on spinal health, for parents to watch their children's posture more closely and for schools to examine ways to reduce children's school bag loads.
The study, released yesterday, was conducted by the association and City University communication students. It was sponsored by a school bag manufacturer.
No figures were available on the rates at which children in Hong Kong suffered 'round shoulder' but Dr Ling believed it to be higher than in Western countries.
Children in Hong Kong spent more time doing homework but less time exercising than their overseas counterparts, Dr Ling said.
More than 40 per cent of the parents in the survey reported their children did less than three hours' exercise a week.
Almost 20 per cent reported their children spent more than an hour a day on a computer at home, in most cases without taking sufficient rest breaks.
The researchers recommended taking short breaks every 30 minutes.
