Fig 1.
Chairs and desks of Australian, Japanese, and Scottish elementary schools.
Fig 2.
Chairs and desks of elementary schools in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Nigeria.
Table 1.
Number of participants.
Fig 3.
Chairs A and B are Japanese elementary school chairs; Chair C is a typical Indonesian elementary school chair.
Table 2.
Dimensions of Indonesian and Japanese chairs.
Fig 4.
The Japanese desk without additional height (left) and with additional height (right).
Table 3.
Weights for various combinations of carrying both a chair and a desk.
Fig 5.
Task 1: Carrying a chair a distance of 3 m.
Step 1: start position; Step 2: standing up (start time); Step 3: carrying the chair; Step 4: putting the chair down (finish time).
Fig 6.
Task 2: Turning a chair upside down.
Step 1: starting position; Step 2: standing up (start time); Step 3: turning the chair upside down; Step 4: putting the chair on the desk (finish time).
Fig 7.
Task 3: Moving a chair and a desk together.
Step 1: Starting position (start time); Step 2: carrying; Step 3: placing on the floor (finish time).
Table 4.
Physical characteristics of participants.
Fig 8.
Task time for carrying only a chair.
Fig 9.
Relationship between participant age and task time for each chair condition.
Fig 10.
Success rates by chair type for lifting a chair on a standard/higher desk.
Exact chi square test: standard desk: p < 0.01; higher desk: p < 0.01.
Fig 11.
Success rates for chair type by age for lifting a chair on a standard/higher desk.
Exact chi square test among chair types. Standard desk: age 6, p < 0.01; age 7, p = 0.051; age 8, p < 0.01; age 9, n.s. Higher desk: age 6, n.s; age 7, n.s; age 8, p < 0.01; age 9, n.s.
Fig 12.
Success rates by four furniture weights for carrying a chair/desk together.
Exact chi square test: p < 0.01.
Fig 13.
Success rates for four furniture weights by age group for carrying a chair/desk together.
Exact chi square test: age 6, n.s.; age 7, p < 0.05; age 8, p < 0.05; age 9, n.s.
Table 5.
Weight guidelines of elementary school chairs and desks for children aged 6–9.