Abstract
The objective of the work is to evaluate selected factors of the school environment that may have a negative effect on pupils' posture and may contribute to the development of muscular imbalances. A meta-analysis was used to assess the school environment.
This metaanalysis looked at partial results obtained by observation and measurement in a number of classes in the 1st to 5th years of elementary school, with the participant group consisting of 531 pupils. The weight of backpacks, the size of school desks and chairs, the way the participants sat during normal learning activities, the way they sat while writing, and the amount of movement during lessons (i.e., learning in motion) were assessed for these pupils.
The research included an assessment of the current state of the postural stability of individual students using the Matthias test. The results confi rmed the predominant inadequacy of all the monitored factors of the school environment.
This inadequacy may contribute to the prevalently negative state of postural weakness, which is observed in 60.6 % of pupils in the research group. A lower level of postural stability is exhibited by 29.9 % of pupils, a low level by 28.3 % of pupils and a very low level by 2.4 % of pupils in the research fi le.
Conclusions Appropriate attention must be paid to all the above-mentioned factors of the school environment. Many of the negative infl uences on posture and the development of muscle imbalances in pupils can be mitigated or eliminated by teachers in collaboration with school management and the pupils' parents.