Too much time in the chair could lead to health problems in the future

Sitting down is the new center of attention in the health world, as pediatricians including Angela Hanscom, an occupational therapist at the TimberNook Institute, said that having to stay still all day leads to worse overall health and is a huge factor in the increase of ADHD in teens. While students have passing time every 93 minutes, in a regular eight block schedule students on average spend approximately six and a half hours sitting in a class every day.
With the amount of time-spent sitting, it is very important that students are sitting correctly. In the long-term, posture can affect joints, digestion, muscles and even breathing. Bad posture places an irregular amount of stress on certain muscles. Posture is also a form of body language that can reflect and affect people’s moods. Erik Peper, a scientist at San Francisco State University says that a mind-body relationship is a two-way street.
Some staff at Rock Bridge combat this problem by using standing desks. These alternatives to the common computer table are located throughout the school after Principal Dr. Jennifer Rukstad began using a standing desk of her own. The school paid for standing desks for any secretary or counselor that wanted one, and thus far, the staff are using them quite often.
The possibility of school-wide standing desks are not far off in the future. According to the sales department at VariDesk, which is one of the leading standing desk companies, many schools and businesses order large quantities of Varidesks on a daily basis. Dr. Rukstad said it was all “a matter of money”, saying, “If I had a million dollars, I would buy one of these desks for every student in school. I don’t have a million dollars.”
This still leads to the possibility of standing desks in classrooms.

So BearingNews asked Rock Bridge students how they compared sitting to standing.

[TS-VCSC-Content-Flip flip_style=”style1″ flip_effect_style1=”horizontal” flip_effect_style2=”ts-flip-right” flip_effect_speed=”fast” flip_size_auto=”true” flip_size=”200″ front_html=”false” back_title=”Would you be a proponent of standing desks in the school?” back_html=”false” read_more_link=”false” read_more_txt=”Read More” read_more_target=”_parent” front_icon_replace=”true” front_image=”270941″ front_image_full=”true” front_icon_size=”400″ flip_border_thick=”1″ front_icon_frame_thick=”1″ front_padding=”false” front_icon_padding=”0″ front_icon_color=”#cccccc” front_icon_frame_color=”#000000″ front_color=”#000000″ front_color_title=”#000000″ front_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_front=”#dddddd” back_color=”#000000″ back_color_title=”#000000″ back_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_back=”#dddddd” read_more_color=”#000000″ read_more_background=”#dddddd” animations=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ back_content=”“No, because too many people would want to use them, and it would get out of hand. Some people do like to sit down, maybe after P.E. or something.“—Dean Frossard, freshman”][TS-VCSC-Content-Flip flip_style=”style1″ flip_effect_style1=”horizontal” flip_effect_style2=”ts-flip-right” flip_effect_speed=”fast” flip_size_auto=”true” flip_size=”200″ front_html=”false” back_title=”Does sitting all day affect how you work?” back_html=”false” back_content=”“I would say yeah, probably, because you are kind of more lazy when you are sitting down and standing up kind of forces you to stay awake.“—David Feng, junior” read_more_link=”false” read_more_txt=”Read More” read_more_target=”_parent” front_icon_replace=”true” front_image=”270940″ front_image_full=”true” front_icon_size=”70″ flip_border_thick=”1″ front_icon_frame_thick=”1″ front_padding=”false” front_icon_padding=”0″ front_icon_color=”#cccccc” front_icon_frame_color=”#000000″ front_color=”#000000″ front_color_title=”#000000″ front_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_front=”#dddddd” back_color=”#000000″ back_color_title=”#000000″ back_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_back=”#dddddd” read_more_color=”#000000″ read_more_background=”#dddddd” animations=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″][TS-VCSC-Content-Flip flip_style=”style1″ flip_effect_style1=”horizontal” flip_effect_style2=”ts-flip-right” flip_effect_speed=”fast” flip_size_auto=”true” flip_size=”200″ front_html=”false” back_html=”false” read_more_link=”false” read_more_txt=”Read More” read_more_target=”_parent” front_icon_replace=”true” front_image=”270942″ front_image_full=”true” front_icon_size=”70″ flip_border_thick=”1″ front_icon_frame_thick=”1″ front_padding=”false” front_icon_padding=”0″ front_icon_color=”#cccccc” front_icon_frame_color=”#000000″ front_color=”#000000″ front_color_title=”#000000″ front_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_front=”#dddddd” back_color=”#000000″ back_color_title=”#000000″ back_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_back=”#dddddd” read_more_color=”#000000″ read_more_background=”#dddddd” animations=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ back_title=”Do you think you are more productive when you sit with good posture?”][TS-VCSC-Content-Flip flip_style=”style1″ flip_effect_style1=”horizontal” flip_effect_style2=”ts-flip-right” flip_effect_speed=”fast” flip_size_auto=”true” flip_size=”200″ front_html=”false” back_title=”Would you be a proponent of standing desks in the school?” back_html=”false” back_content=”“I just feel like anything that is truly important doesn’t really happen while you’re sitting down.“—Alec Huhman, sophomore ” read_more_link=”false” read_more_txt=”Read More” read_more_target=”_parent” front_icon_replace=”true” front_image=”270939″ front_image_full=”true” front_icon_size=”70″ flip_border_thick=”1″ front_icon_frame_thick=”1″ front_padding=”false” front_icon_padding=”0″ front_icon_color=”#cccccc” front_icon_frame_color=”#000000″ front_color=”#000000″ front_color_title=”#000000″ front_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_front=”#dddddd” back_color=”#000000″ back_color_title=”#000000″ back_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_back=”#dddddd” read_more_color=”#000000″ read_more_background=”#dddddd” animations=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″][TS-VCSC-Content-Flip flip_style=”style1″ flip_effect_style1=”horizontal” flip_effect_style2=”ts-flip-right” flip_effect_speed=”fast” flip_size_auto=”true” flip_size=”200″ front_html=”false” back_html=”false” back_content=”“I’ve had a lot of neck issues… since I’ve gotten my standing desk my shoulders are not tense, I haven’t had any neck issues, and it’s made my back stronger. Now when I sit down it’s just like ‘ugh’ because then you feel kind of slouchy and by the end of the day my posture isn’t as good.“ —Denise McGonigle, principal’s secretary” read_more_link=”false” read_more_txt=”Read More” read_more_target=”_parent” front_icon_replace=”true” front_image=”270945″ front_image_full=”true” front_icon_size=”70″ flip_border_thick=”1″ front_icon_frame_thick=”1″ front_padding=”false” front_icon_padding=”0″ front_icon_color=”#cccccc” front_icon_frame_color=”#000000″ front_color=”#000000″ front_color_title=”#000000″ front_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_front=”#dddddd” back_color=”#000000″ back_color_title=”#000000″ back_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_back=”#dddddd” read_more_color=”#000000″ read_more_background=”#dddddd” animations=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ back_title=”How has the standing desks affected you?”][TS-VCSC-Content-Flip flip_style=”style1″ flip_effect_style1=”horizontal” flip_effect_style2=”ts-flip-right” flip_effect_speed=”fast” flip_size_auto=”true” flip_size=”200″ front_html=”false” back_html=”false” back_content=”“This summer we got serious about it and we bought table top desks for any secretary that wanted them. The feedback was so good that people at the board office even bought them.“—Dr. Jennifer Rukstad” read_more_link=”false” read_more_txt=”Read More” read_more_target=”_parent” front_icon_replace=”true” front_image=”270944″ front_image_full=”true” front_icon_size=”70″ flip_border_thick=”1″ front_icon_frame_thick=”1″ front_padding=”false” front_icon_padding=”0″ front_icon_color=”#cccccc” front_icon_frame_color=”#000000″ front_color=”#000000″ front_color_title=”#000000″ front_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_front=”#dddddd” back_color=”#000000″ back_color_title=”#000000″ back_background=”#ffffff” flip_border_color_back=”#dddddd” read_more_color=”#000000″ read_more_background=”#dddddd” animations=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ back_title=”How did standing desks get to Rock Bridge?”]