There’s little question measuring posture can be a helpful assessment tool, but what can your child’s bad posture tell about their future heath?
THE MASTER CONTROL SYSTEM
The spine is the central protective casing for the delicate and vital communication system within the human frame. This makes its structure and function paramount to the health of the body in general.
Your Neuro-Structural System (spine and nervous system) make up the primary input-output pathways for information to and from the brain, coordinate complex movements, as well as play a unique role in the health of your brain.
Damaging one’s posture can come from many individual sources, but more likely, it’s a combination of many or all of these potential factors ranging from child birth, car seats, back packs, sitting, injuries, inactivity and chronic stress just to highlight a few.
HOW DOES BAD POSTURE AFFECT CHILDREN?
While we recognize the fact that bad posture will affect us as we age, most overlook it’s origin and the opportunity to correct it long before it becomes a major source of dysfunction and increasingly difficult to alter.
Here are some of the outcomes bad posture in your children today could lead to in their future.
ABNORMAL BONE GROWTH
Wolff’s Law states that bone in a healthy person will adapt to the loads under which it is placed. Simply put, abnormal postural stress and current loads will alter bone development.
This is one of the reasons a postural problem now could easily become a structural problem in the future and with that, become far more challenging to correct.
One study of 154 10 year old’s showed 9% were already demonstrating disc degeneration in their developing spines.
Osteoporosis and arthritis aren’t conditions a child should need to worry about but with excessive spinal stress and the high level of youth inactivity… it’s starting to be the case.
MENTAL HEALTH
In a 2015 study from Health Psychology, researchers noted participants with poor posture were more fearful, hostile, nervous, quiet, still, passive, dull, sleepy, and sluggish.
A survey published in 2012 in the journal Biofeedback indicated there was a link between posture and mental health, particularly mood, anxiety, and stress.
Whether it’s the chicken or the egg, posture seems to influence how feel about ourselves, how we handle our stress and how happy we ultimately are.
LUNG FUNCTION & LIFE SPAN
Uncorrected postural problems can play a role in age related postural issues such as dowager’s hump and excessive kyphosis.
The long-term effects of these conditions may include reduced pulmonary function and even a reduction in life span!
HORMONES
In a Ted Talk well worth watching, researcher Amy Cuddy explains how changes in our position affect us the deepest levels including our hormones. Altering our posture dramatically impacted both testosterone and cortisol, two key hormones in controlling our long term health.
The long term implications of excessive cortisol production alone are dramatic…destruction of healthy muscle and bone, slowing down healing and normal cell regeneration, impairment of digestion, metabolism and mental function, interference with healthy endocrine function and a weakening of your immune system.
NOW WHAT?
If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, you recognize there is a significant difference between a traditional chiropractor and a corrective chiropractic approach. Not better and worse, just different.
One of those differences is the assessment and correction of problems with the Neuro-Structural System that can cause postural distortions and contribute to many of the long term health deficits discussed in this article.
- If you want to identify the signs of a postural problem with your children, run some preliminary posture tests yourself by clicking below to download our free Perfect Posture Self-Assessment Tool.
- If you prefer to seek help right away, CLICK HERE to request a complimentary consultation with one of our doctors.
Dr. Michael Gibson has committed himself to helping others to live the best life possible. After graduating with a Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario, he received his Doctor of Chiropractic Degree and Masters of Science in Chiropractic Sports Science from Life University. He is the co-creator of Life By Design, owner of The Wellness Group, and co-owner of CrossFit 613. His passion for empowering families runs deep. After experiencing the loss of his sister due to illness, Michael’s purpose became reaching and teaching as many as possible the foundational principles of an extraordinary life. Since that time he has passionately pursued and been successful in living out his dream. He maintains a busy family chiropractic practice, a full speaking schedule and finds time to implement the principles and practices of Life By Design in his own life.
