Posture in children

Posture in children – Good or bad posture results from a number of factors. One—perhaps the most important factor—is the skeleton the child is born with. You see individuals who have been round-shouldered from babyhood, like their mother or father before them. Some children seem to be born with a relaxed set of muscles and ligaments. Other children look tightly knit, in action or at rest. It’s hard for them to slump.

There are also rare diseases that affect posture in children, and chronic illness and chronic fatigue (from any cause) can cause children to slump and sag. Overweight sometimes exaggerates swayback, knock-knees, and flat feet. Unusual tallness makes the self conscious adolescent duck the head. A child with poor posture needs regular examinations to make sure that there is no physical reason.Posture in children

Many children slouch because of a lack of self-confidence. This may result from too much criticism at home, difficulties in school, or an unsatisfactory social life. People who are buoyant and sure of themselves show it in the way they sit and stand and walk. When parents realize how much the child’s feelings have to do with his posture, they can handle the problem more wisely.

The natural impulse of a parent, eager to have a child look good, is to keep after posture in children: “Remember the shoulders,” or “For goodness’ sake, stand up straight.” But the posture of children who are stooped over because their parents have always kept after them too much won’t be improved by more nagging.

Generally speaking, the best results come when the child receives posture work through  dance or other body-movement classes or from a physical therapist. In these places, the atmosphere is more businesslike than at home.

The parents may be able to greatly help a boy in carrying out his exercises at home if he wants help and they can give it in a friendly way. But their main job is to help the child’s spirit by aiding his school adjustment, fostering a happy social life, and making him feel adequate and self-respecting at home.

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