Anthropometric Data of Primary School Children in Malaysia for School Chair Design

Abstract

Anthropometrics data of Malaysian Primary school children are yet to be compiled and used for producing ergonomic school furniture. In this study, anthropometrics data of six body dimensions were collected, these are the hip width, shoulder breadth, sitting subscapular height, sitting shoulder, buttock-popliteal length, and popliteal height. The objectives were to compare current school chair dimensions with the newly proposed chair in order to prove the need of having anthropometric data as a basis in furniture design. Method: A custom-made measurer was used to measuring samples of 2400 school children across four states in Malaysia which include Perak, Pahang, Selangor and Johor and consists of students aged 7–11 years old. The 5th and 95th percentiles were used and data were evaluated by differentiating the current school chair with the newly proposed chair where results showed differences in sizes between the two. In conclusion, there is a need for having new chair dimensions that follow Malaysian children’s anthropometry.