Li Yanhu, chief physician of the Institute of Sports Medicine of the General Administration of Sport of China: Spinal health starts with correct posture

Why should we pay attention to spinal health? What is the correct body posture? Our reporter interviewed experts from the Institute of Sports Medicine of the State Sports General Administration to explain the correct knowledge of spinal health.

Written by reporter Lv Bingxin Photo and text editor: Chen Yongjie

New Media Editor/Li Yunfeng

【Interview with experts】

Li Yanhu (Chief Physician of the Institute of Sports Medicine of the State Sports General Administration and Director of the Sports Health Medicine Research Center)

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Beijing Science and Technology Daily: Spinal problems among adolescents are becoming increasingly prominent and have become the third largest disease endangering the health of children and adolescents in my country. What do you think is the reason for this situation?

Li Yanhu: The main reason is that many teenagers have not developed good daily movement habits. Posture is the basis for the human body to do various movements, and it will affect the pressure of various parts of the body. Teenagers are in the growth and development period. If they do not pay attention to their posture, it will bring a series of adverse effects on the development of their physiological structure.

Some parents always complain that their children have no memory, and they don't know how to stand or sit properly. When doing homework, they often remind them to raise their heads, hold their chests high, and sit up straight, but after a few minutes they return to their crooked positions. In fact, this problem may not necessarily be caused by a poor memory, but may be caused by not knowing how to maintain the correct posture, or by a problem with body posture control. As parents, we should promptly guide children to correct their sitting posture, control the use of electronic devices, and control the time they spend sitting for long periods of time.

Some parents only pay attention to their children's grades and homework, but not how they complete their homework. Many students sit crookedly or twistedly in the process, and they sit however they like, lacking a correct posture standard. Over time, this will lead to a series of problems.

"Beijing Science and Technology Daily": How to correctly understand the important role of the spine?

Li Yanhu: Spinal problems are a whole-body problem, not just a joint problem, and we need to pay enough attention to it.

The abnormal body shape and asymmetrical face caused by scoliosis are only external manifestations. The central nervous system passes through the spine. After the spine is deformed, the central nervous system is first subjected to a large torsional force, including the blood vessels on both sides, which affects the circulation of the whole body, and there will be many problems with the body's balance movement. It can also cause nerve pain, insufficient blood supply to the brain, affect endocrine metabolism, and in severe cases, visual impairment, olfactory impairment, hearing impairment, etc.

"Beijing Science and Technology Daily": You have mentioned many times that many teenagers, parents, and teachers do not know what is the correct posture for standing, sitting, reading, writing, sleeping, and watching electronic products. Can you give us some popular science knowledge?

Li Yanhu:

The ideal standing posture should be: viewed from the front, the line connecting the two ears, the line connecting the highest points of the two shoulders, the line connecting the two anterior superior iliac spines, the line connecting the two knees, and the line connecting the two ankles are parallel to the ground; viewed from the side, the line connecting the inner ear, acromion, middle of the buttocks, outer side of the knees, and the posterior 1/3 of the sole of the foot are perpendicular to the ground.

Key points of the movement: The center of gravity of the body is between the feet, falling on the back 1/3 of the foot, the highest point of the inner arch of the foot, the toes consciously grip the ground, the knees and toes are in the same direction, the hips and waist and abdomen should be consciously contracted, the shoulders remain sunken, the clavicle extends to both ends, the chest is opened, the lower jaw is slightly retracted, and the head falls directly above the shoulders. Do not lean forward.

The correct sitting posture should be:

Key points: Tilt the chair back 90°-120°; find the sitting bones, move the buttocks to the back of the seat, sit upright, the body is basically perpendicular to the ground, the waist, back and buttocks are leaning back on the chair back, the upper body is naturally straight and relaxed, the knees are bent about 90°, the thighs are basically parallel to the ground, the calves are perpendicular to the ground, the thighs can be slightly higher than the knees, and the feet are flat on the ground or on a stable surface. Look straight ahead, the lower jaw and head are slightly retracted, and fall back on the shoulders. The shoulders and upper arms are parallel to the body and try to be perpendicular to the ground. The shoulder blades on both sides sink and shrink slightly backwards, and the upper arms are slightly externally rotated, the chest is opened, and the hands are naturally drooping or placed on the thighs.

The correct sitting posture for doing homework should be:

Lean your upper body forward on the basis of the standard sitting posture, and your body will change from a sitting position to a slightly forward position. After leaning forward, the pressure on the spine will increase, but if your hands or elbows are properly supported on the table or armrests, the pressure on the spine will be relatively reduced. While leaning forward, we should also shorten the distance between the desk and chair, and keep the distance between the body and the desk about one fist away on the basis of the basic sitting posture to avoid sagging waist and hunched back.

Key points for homework posture:

The body position and posture formula is: "Three 90°" - the hip joint, knee joint, and elbow joint should all be kept at 90°. Control the eye distance and maintain the correct posture formula is: "Three Ones" - the hand is an inch away from the pen tip, the chest is a fist away from the desk, and the eyes are a foot away from the book.

You also need to maintain a good sitting or standing posture when using electronic products such as mobile phones.

Students need to hold electronic products with both hands, straighten their hands or bend their elbows slightly when using them, so that the electronic screen is at the same height as their eyesight. The usage time also needs to be strictly controlled.

The mnemonic for controlling the time of using electronic products is: "202020" - use your eyes at close range for 20 minutes, and look at something 20 feet (about 6 meters) away for at least 20 seconds

The correct sleeping position should be:

As the saying goes, "sleep like a bow". Sleeping position is closely related to human health. There are two most common sleeping positions, supine and side-lying. Studies have shown that "sleeping like a bow" can appropriately reduce the force of the earth's center on the human body. Since the heart is generally on the left side of the body, lying on the right side can reduce the pressure on the heart.

No matter what sleeping position you choose, you should keep breathing naturally and ensure that the four physiological curvatures of the spine are in a natural state. The goal is to achieve a symmetrical arrangement of the body. The pillow ensures the normal curvature of the cervical spine, the mattress ensures the normal curvature of the spine, and the pillow ensures the stability and balance of the pelvis and torso.

Supine sleeping position

The supine sleeping position is a common sleeping position for children. The pressure of the whole body is evenly distributed, and the spine can relax symmetrically to the greatest extent. When lying on your back, the lower edge of the pillow rests on the shoulder, and the back of the head is placed in the middle of the pillow. This way, the muscles of the back and neck are most relaxed. A soft pillow can be placed under the knees to relieve the tension of the entire lumbar spine.

Side sleeping position

When lying on your side, tilt your head slightly back from your shoulders, bend your hips and knees slightly, keep your muscles naturally relaxed, and place a cushion of moderate hardness and height between your legs for support. You can place a pillow in front of your chest to help you keep your spine straight while sleeping and prevent spinal rotation. The pillow should be appropriately raised, with a height equal to the width of one shoulder, to support the position of your neck and the straightness of your spine.

"Beijing Science and Technology Daily": In addition to teenagers themselves overcoming bad posture, what other aspects do you think should be paid special attention to in preventing and controlling scoliosis in adolescents?

Li Yanhu: It is also important to educate parents and teachers about adolescent spinal health, pay attention to children's spinal health, and try to detect, intervene and treat it as early as possible. At the same time, we should also provide scientific education to medical staff. When some children have scoliosis tendencies in the early stage, some medical staff think that observation is enough. This is a very wrong concept. Just like a small tree that is crooked, it must be intervened to gradually straighten. If it is allowed to develop, it will eventually cause more harm to the child's body.

"Beijing Science and Technology Daily": Many adults say that they also have scoliosis problems. So, is there any hope for people in their 30s and 40s?

Li Yanhu: In fact, just like teenagers, after professional evaluation by a doctor and reasonable intervention, such as adjusting lifestyle and targeted scientific exercise, the progression of scoliosis can be controlled and better results can be achieved.

Related reading:

Scoliosis among primary and secondary school students is a neglected disease with more than 5 million patients

(Some of the pictures in this article are from the Youth Health Handbook of the General Administration of Sport of China)

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