Anthropometric Assessment for Designing Primary School classroom Desk and Bench Size

The appropriate designing of school equipment for establishing a suitable sitting habit, is of major importance. Unfortunately, benches and desks in Iranian schools are not properly adjusted with anthropometric characteristics of students. The main theme of this research is preparing some guidelines for anthropometric designing and ergonomic adjustment of benches and desks. In this study 300 school boys and girls were selected by systematic random sampling method. The data were collected by observation and interview using anthropometric measurements devices and recorded in a questionnaire. Anthropometric information was recorded based on 17 anthropometric parameters. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. There was significant difference between girls and boys in popliteal height, buttock- knee depth, buttock-popliteal depth, thigh clearance and functional forward reach (P<0.05). It was concluded that the desk height is determined based on sum of percentile (95) of the elbow rest height and the seat height. According to the results, students usually have to take a standing position instead of sitting comfortably. Such a prolonged posture may cause varicose related illnesses.