Study of the school furniture adequacy to students’ anthropometric dimensions

Abstract

The discomfort due to poor sitting posture may be related to the lack of suitability of the furniture. This miss-match is often due to the lack of consideration for ergonomic aspects that ensure the combination of anthropometric dimensions of users with the measures of the furniture. These miss-match situations can also be seen in the student work environment, where students spend a lot of time sitting at a desk. The aim of this study was to evaluate if students, who attend a Portuguese public school of elementary education, 2nd and 3rd cycles, use furniture with measures fitting their anthropometric measurements. For this purpose, the anthropometric measurements of all the students, as well as measurements of all tables and chairs from this school were collected. Taking as reference the European standard 1729-1: 2015, it was verified that 73% of the students don’t find a chair/table compatible with their anthropometric dimensions.