How to adjust the height of a desk chair correctly
Adjustment possibilities for children’s swivel chairs in height, depth and backrest
Healthy back due to healthy sitting
Of course, many of the products we buy for our children are of the correct size. Take clothes, for example: it doesn’t make sense to buy a pair of pants that are too short for your child. In addition to the correct size, ergonomic and effective function and the excellent workmanship and quality of the products are also important to us. Strangely enough, this particular attention is not always given to the selection of the children’s desk and, above all, the children’s swivel chair. However, it is precisely these pieces of furniture that require a special focus on ergonomics and function. Today, children sit between eight and ten hours on a swivel chair at their desks. If the seat adjustment does not correspond to the individual proportions of the child, fatal consequences can result, which sometimes only become noticeable after years. Acute consequences of a wrongly selected swivel chair can be headaches and – as a result – loss of performance. A correctly adjusted office swivel chair, on the other hand, ensures the correct posture and provides the basis for dynamic and healthy sitting. What does an office swivel chair for children need to meet these requirements? All in all, these are three possible settings as the moll Maximo shows.
How to adjust a child’s swivel chair correctly
The correct children’s swivel chair is adjustable in at least three dimensions and grows with the child in these directions. These three adjustment options are the seat height, seat depth and backrest height. If the swivel chair offers these possibilities, the question remains how to adjust the chair correctly? With the seat height you always precede from the bottom to the top. First of all, the child’s feet must not only touch the ground, but be able to rest as flatly as possible on it. The height of the swivel chair is also correctly adjusted when the front edge of the seat is pushed against the lower kneecap when your child is standing in front of the chair. The angle between the upper body and the thigh should be slightly open when sitting and should therefore be more than 90°. The seat is slightly tilted forward, thus supporting an upright posture and a focused working style. Your child’s pelvis should be slightly tilted forward while the back is upright. Dynamic sitting, i. e. changing the posture while working, is supported by a flexible seat. The seat depth is adjusted according to the seat height. The thighs should be able to rest on the seat as fully as possible. The correct seat depth adjustment is measured at the front edge of the office swivel chair. The distance between this and your child’s lower leg should be approximately four finger widths. This distance ensures that the blood flow to your child’s legs is properly maintained. The height of the backrest remains to be adjusted. This must be selected in a way that the entire torso is supported by the chair’s backrest. The upper end of the backrest should end just below the shoulder blades.
No need to sit still
One more word on dynamic sitting. You probably know this from your youth: Sitting still was always demanded by parents and teachers. Scientists and researchers have found out that wriggling makes children much smarter than sitting still. The wobbling also supports the so-called dynamic sitting, which involves changing the posture as often as possible when working at a desk. The restlessness during sitting also promotes the mental, physical and psychological development of the child significantly better than sitting still.
Just as important as the chair that grows with the child is an ergonomic table! Criterion number one here is its height-adjustability. Because then it simply grows with the children and can also be used by the older or smaller siblings. It is important to adjust the table height so that the forearm can rest on the tabletop at a right angle.
Desk height:
The arms are positioned on the table. Now the height of the table can be adjusted. The setting is correct if the arms are at an angle of slightly more than 90°.
Neck muscles:
The neck muscles remain relaxed when the forearms rest on the table top.
