Computer screens affect a child's posture

PERTH, Australia, March 10 (UPI) -- Australian researchers suggest students' posture is affected by the height of classroom learning materials such as computer screens.

The study, published in Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, finds a high computer screen display resulted in upward bending of the upper neck, but the mid-level display promoted a more upright and symmetrical posture and lower average muscle activity than either the high- or the book-level position.

Of the three positions, the low book-level display caused the most strain on muscles and joints, the study says.

Study leader Leon Straker of Curtin University of Technology in Perth and colleagues presented an interactive task to 24 children of normal height, ages 10 to 12. The researchers recorded the children's movements and measured 3-D posture and muscle activity in the neck and upper limb for the high-, mid- and book-level displays.

"The data collected in this study provide the first detailed description of 3-D head, neck and arm posture, and the associated muscle activity of children reading and entering data with computers and reading and writing with paper," Straker said in a statement.