The right sitting posture is extremely important!
Sitting at a desk
For better attention on activities, children need to be stable while seated.
Recommended sitting while seated at a desk or table is the ‘90 degree’ sitting position:
- Feet flat on the floor (feet needs to be flat on the floor as this helps with stability of the trunk while seated leading to better attention on academic / fine motor work)
- Ankles and 90 degrees
- Knees at 90 degrees
- Upper leg parallel to floor
- Hip at 90 degrees
- Back up right
- Forearms rested on table in a relaxed manner
A small cushion can be placed at the lower back to help give the chest a tilt upwards
Please remember that because some children may have weaker muscle tone and weaker strength, they will exert much more effort to keep this posture, so better to have the bottom snug-fitting while sitting on the chair. Encourage children to have regular breaks for about 5 minutes after sitting for about 20-30 minutes doing table-top work. If the chair is big and the feet are in the air, place a stool or small box or hard books on the floor so that their feet can reach and be flat.
Sitting on the floor: The ‘W’ Posture
What is wrong with W-sitting?
- When children W-sit, they require less muscle strength to maintain that position as the legs, (in the form of the ‘W’) creates a wider base of support, leading to trunk muscles weakness. When the child is using other sitting postures while playing, the child develops better trunk control.
- When the child is playing in W-Sitting, it does not permit trunk rotation and lateral weight shifting, thus affecting the ability to cross the mid line of the body. Mid line crossing is required while writing, and also while performing other table top activities. This can have a negative impact on the child’s fine motor skills and motor planning actions.
- When a child lacks trunk rotation and continues to play in W-sitting the child will pick-up a toy with left hand if the toys is laying on the floor to the left of the child and will pick up a toy with the right hand if the laying on the floor to the right of the child. This continues to limit trunk rotation and has a negative impact on the development of hand dominance.
- W-sitting also makes it difficult for the child to shift their weight from one side of body to other, negatively affecting the child’s static balance and dynamic balance and ultimately can affect gross motor skills development.
- When children W-sit for long periods, it results in poor sitting posture at the desk due to muscle weakness.
- Excessive use of this posture can lead to early future orthopedic conditions such as pain in the ankles, knees, hips as well as in the lower back and neck.
Alternative postures
– Cross-legged position- ask your child to sit in cross-legged position with or without support
– Long sit position- ask your child sit with legs extended
– Side Sitting position- ask your child bend the knees and sit on either side of the thighs, as this position would permit the lateral shift of weight on both the sides of body
If the cause of W Sitting is weakness of trunk muscles, exercise for trunk strengthening should be done. Always remind your child to use alternate sitting positions.
