Children's spinal health problems are worrying doctors who fear that a mismatch between youths who are tall for their age and poorly designed desks and chairs are giving students bad posture.

Liu Bo, director of the spinal surgery department at Jishuitan Hospital, said a bad sitting position puts a strain on the neck and back. In some cases, the problem can even lead to disc protrusion.

"Patients suffer severe pain and some can not even stand up, which brings them trouble in their daily lives," he said while pointing out that few adolescents had protruding discs 10 years ago.

Liu told METRO he had just finished disc protrusion surgery on a 10-year-old boy.

"Kids are growing faster and taller," he said. "Their increasing height and weight put more pressure on their spines. If they cannot find a healthy way to sit and control their weight, their spines will be damaged."

According to statistics from the China Children Development Center, about 20 percent of children in China are scoliosis patients. A survey by Beijing Kainuo Spinal Health in 2009 of 1,500 children showed that more than 60 percent had spinal problems.

Li Qiang, the father of an 11-year-old girl in Grade 6, said his daughter became near-sighted last year and he wondered if this has something to do with her desk and chair.

"The desk is too high and the chair too low, which makes her eyes too close to the books when writing," he speculated.

He said his daughter's school uses the same-sized desks and chairs for all grades.

"The height of children in my daughter's class varies from 1.45 meters to 1.65 meters, a 20-centimeter difference. That's big enough to warrant desks of different sizes, isn't it?"

To some students who are taller than their peers, the size of their desks and chairs is not only a health problem but an embarrassment, he added.

Wang Hui, an English teacher who has taught in many schools in the city, said she has noticed that students are becoming more plump and tall and that many are sitting on their chairs with unusual postures.

"They seem very uncomfortable and cannot straighten their backs when writing or reading," she said.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education in 2002 show that the average height of men and women in urban areas had increased by 6.2 cm and 4.8 cm respectively between 1992 and 2001.

Beijing Youth Daily conducted a survey earlier this year that showed about 15 percent of senior students in high school were taller than 1.8 meters.

To implement the national standard for chairs and desks released in 2003, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education has made available 10 different sizes of desks and chairs for students. The largest ones are aimed at students taller than 1.73 meters.

A school doctor surnamed Wang in Zhongguancun High School said better nutrition is making children taller than they used to be.

"To some students over 1.8 meters in height, even Size 1 desks and chairs are not big enough," he said. Wang Hui said the problem with desks and chairs appears to vary from area to area.

"Most schools in districts such as Dongcheng and Xicheng have desks and chairs that are categorized into five sizes and kids can choose their own sizes at the beginning of every semester."

But she said schools in suburban districts like Fengtai and Fangshan have classrooms that often do not have enough desks, let alone the right sizes.

(China Daily September 29, 2010)