| Show r J oJ Sitting With the Legs Two backs in which the judges at a recent medical Y ff a convention in Boston found I Crossed Working at Desk t none of that se 7 2 result from incorrect habits habit c of sitting and standing The he fJ L p x Too High and Cher pretty fully p and owners healthfully of these normal grace grace- gracefully t Ii s 's 1 wry de- de declared columns spinal were J laced entitled ed to share the Bad abets of Holden l g capital copra prize off for or the tha back backi I i the Body Which i Medical Science w Warns Us Are Liable fr r 9 ev t r lr to Cause Serious 1 1 1 a s st t i t 4 Deformity and Injure the Health i w f 4 r jl lit ll The photo photo- o t pP e the left 11 l 4 NM xi- xi w 1 i vy j v vt t o i t t X 1 Oti dont don't have to be born bore with ain a YOU I warped twist twisted d body o or r be in injured in- in injured lured in an accident or damaged by disease in order to get into the piti- piti pitiable piti 4 able able ranks of hopeless cripples Medical science warns us that an in- in increasingly increasingly in increasingly large number of people are slowly but surely making cripples hippIes of themselves through their bad habits of holding their bodies while at work or play Habitually sitting with one leg thrown over the other standing and walking in inthe inthe Inthe the now fashionable slouching attitude working at desks too high or too low using chairs not suited to your height and size and not shaped to give the body proper support all support all these and many other seemingly innocent habits can easily easily ily fly cause curvature of of the spine and other serious deformities Such deformities not only destroy the body's graceful symmetry symmetry but do great harm to the health by cramping the vital organs and forcing g them them out of their proper positions Take for example the common habit of sitting one leg thrown over the theother theother theother other This is an attitude which nearly everybody finds comfortable and which seems to give gi the body needed relaxation relaxation relaxation tion But its it's all wrong the posture ex- ex experts exports ex experts ports tell us us Such an attitude is to be avoided they say because it it throws th the hips out of plumb lifts one shoulder high above bove theother the theother theother other arid and forces the spine into an unnatural un- un unnatural un unnatural natural and unhealthful curve to compensate com com- compensate compensate for this position of the hips and shoulders There is always danger danler that this curvature may become become permanent and make the owner owner the of-the of the twisted spine a cripple for life Then too the blood cannot circulate freely when the legs are arc pressed preSed tightly together as they are in this position and rheumatism neuritis and weakness of the muscles of the legs and feet may maybe maybe maybe be the result Sometimes the walk becomes so abnormal that one is handi- handi handicapped handi handicapped capped in getting about and becomes something of a cripple in the eyes of his fellowmen Quito Quite as crippling the medical men point out out is the habit of curling one leg under the other other-as other as so many girls and young oung women door or do or slumping in a chair so that the spine is arched arched outward and held against the backof back of the chair at a point well up toward the shoulders Considerable study has been given to the effects of all all these supposedly com coin comfortable table fox positions that people take when sitting down under the general heading Sitters Diseases Diases Di ases An article recently published in a medical journal says that the greatest enemy of civilized man is the humble and inconspicuous chair Man Man is is not a sitting animal the article continued Sitting is abnormal to him Civilized man tries to normalize himself to the posture of sitting by do- do doing doing fag ing as much of of-it of It as 86 he be can but his structure is not adapted to it it A hisA The muscles under the thigh are too short for it it They have haye have to be bo too short for sitting to be the right length for moving the upright leg In sitting as l- l lJ J t ti i q v 0 n e I r 0 w- w d r- r ling which j w the h experts pro t r very 1 harmful IY dr Equally Equally's i s 's is t tl l lf f legs tucked under r d J Diagrammatic view of ofa a schoolboys schoolboy's c spine showing how badly is twisted out of s h ha a pe when he works at a desk or table R that is too high A n one usually does they are drawn taut and to ease case them them the f sty lower wn part y- y of the the j pelvis is brought for for- forward for E ward isE ward vard and the upper part is thrown back back- backward backward back backward ward But Cut on the upper part sits the spine which is thus thrown thrown completely off its balance so th that t we e d elo crooked spines Dr Francesco X L X a New NewYork NewYork NewYork York physician a and d a frequent contributor contributor contributor tor to medical publications publication's I Is s c carries s this theory a bit further further and and says that the savage squatting squatting on his his hau haunches ches shows us the natural l and healthful healthful position that man was intended intended to tal take c when when not standing erect or l lying ing d down Strange as it may seem says the thedo do doctor tor wh what what t we l look k upon upon as as as stiff and uncomfortable pO positions are are really the most healthful and comfortable after one has acquired the the habit habit of sitting so that his body can function can function as it should And what we co consider sider the the most corne com com- comfortable com comfortable furniture is is actu actually llY the worst furniture that could be put into our homes for soft-bottomed soft chairs and deeply cushio cushioned ed divans allow our bodies to slump and so BO t twist o our r bony frame frame frameworks works and throw our delicate internal organs dangerously out of place surfaced Hard chairs and beds that Would support the body instead of let let- letting letting let letting ting it sink into a Would be much more conducive to well being well and after we got used to them would be found much more comfortable than almost almost the chairs and beds now used in every overy American home Dr admits the folly of of try try- trying ing lag to induce people to adopt the squat of the aborigines in order in-order order to dodge the tho danger of becoming cripples to a les lesser r or greater degree but he ha be- be believes believes be believes that the design of furniture should be changed so that we will not be en- en en or forced to sit in harmful positions Perhaps the best thing we could d do dohe he suggests would be to have adjust adjust- adjust adjust- adjustable adjustable adjustable able chairs that that can ean be fi fitted ted to the individual for there is a great difference in the proportions ions people of-people of people But if this much to hope for at least seats in our homes in theaters trains and auto auto- automobiles automobiles mobiles can be built with the bottoms sloping slightly toward the back and the backs set at an angle that will will not not make it necessary for us to sit unnaturally bent forward thus pressing our ribs and our hips into the deli delicate ate organs in our abdomens and chests Recent investigations show v that 70 per cent of the children in the United States and Cm Canada da have spinal defects of one kind or another mother and that there are areat areat areat at least five million cases of spinal pinal curvature curvature curvature among school children and college students student in tho the two countries Most Host of these cases the investigators say arc result of bad habits of sit sit- sitting sit sitting ting tine and standing that can make make crip crip- cripples cripples ples pies all surely as disease that leaves the victim d deformed formed or accidents th that t via vio- violently vio violently knock one out of shape Some of the trouble to school schoolroom room seats scats and desks which are are not properly adjusted to the children who use them Injury suffered in play or In athletic g games mes is in inn part responsible for the alarming number number of of abnormal gen gen spines in North Am Americas America's ricas rica's younger era ion The The common custom of carry carry- carrying carrying carrying ing books on hip has hal brought t on and aggravated thousands of cases of The medical men and physical culture exp experts have gone very thoroughly into the matter and have tried to find out outi i 1027 un br h oh Jo 1 J wt yx st r r rr r r I rr kI kInt nt J r 1 Silhouettes from life showing the ugly deformities which improper habits of sitting and standing produce in the human body all the causes of twisted backbones They point out that many cases casell of curvature begin the moment a child comes into the world because too much pull is exerted on one sid side of the new new- newborn newborn born infant Fond parents often orten unwittingly un- un unwittingly wittingly make cripples of their children wo rea JaG me f by tossing them In the air and catching them and by letting them sleep in positions which easily twist tender plastic bones out of adjustment adjustment- The common practice of pulling chil- chil children chi chil children dren along by one hand and yanking them up steps and into into cars the cause of a great many twisted bodies that often can never Dever be put straight straight again t again If you let a very young child position that is natural and instinctive for him he will invariably get ov over r on his tummy This position the do doc doc- doctors doc doctors tors tell parents is both right and con to healthy growth and the child should be kept in this position rather than flat on his back Numerous cases of spinal curvature could be prevented ted at the beginning if if mothers and nursemaids would let youngsters teach them the prop proper r way to lay Jay them in cribs carriages oron or blankets on the floor Dr condemns high heeled high shoes as one of the most common c causes uses of body twisting that may and often does make one something of a 8 cripple When you OU put on a shoe that props the heel two or three inches off the floor says the doctor you are playing the very deuce with your backbone be- be because because be because cause if the body were held in line the head would be thrown six inches for for- forward forward ward of its normal position But nut the body must find its own cen- cen center cen ter of gravity to to stand by itself and the spine unduly spine is 3 unduly curved in four places to offset the raising of the heel There is is no particular discomfort in adjusting yourself to fashionable sloes shoes but after a time the muscles about the unnatural curves in the spine become set and curvature is well wen on its way It has been his experience that oc- oc occupation oc occupation has a great deal to do this matter of self made self made cripples lie has found as an example that m most st U 11 P Ef Avoid sitting like this if you would keep your s spine pin e efrom from being twisted permanently out of shape The photograph above shows how the throwing throwing of one knee over theother the Iother other lowers one shoulder and the diagram on the left shows the crippling and unhealthful curva- curva curvature curvature I iture ture produced in this young worn- worn i ians ian's ana ans spine when she sits aits in this I attitude I i stenographers are troubled with I strain eye eye- eyestrain eye eye- strain and backache because they so often work at desks that are too high or too too v lo-v low and sit in chairs that are not suited to a natural posture Dentists and barbers are almost in- in invariably variably in variably ridden by stomach trouble and Dr Sa chelli says the cause easy to trace These men stand at their work and andare are continually bending over their patrons This out in twist twist- twisting twisting twisting ing of of the spine throws the vertebrae outI out I of g of of ine me and squeezes some of th them them m together to- to gether the gether ther so that delicate nerves nerves the process of digestion are pinch pinched d and cannot do their work Clerical workers who vho sit on high stools always to bend bend over account books are almost always shouldered round-shouldered and in them them the the curvature of the spine tends to make them very nervous Taxi drivers and chauffeurs as easy as 83 their work cork seems are a sick lot lot according ac- ac according cording to Dr because they slump in their seats scats and because the vibration of the motor and the bumps of the road give their delicate nerve more centers more of a shaking than han nature intended i them to get The chorus girl is often nervous nervous strung high strung and temperamental not be be because cause she she indulges in the wild night life that ladies of the stage are supposed supposed to ha have toha e a particular weakness for but be- be because because be because cause of the slouching sliding walk she has to assume in her work This throws the body forward at the hips and forces the organs in the abdomen v very ry much out of of position The result is ill health A knowledge of the proper way to sit and stand and stand and a constant application of this knowledge can an prevent one from falling into crippling habits and correct slight twists already started It is true the doctors admit tha the relaxation of ot the body in sleep and the frequent changes in position that we take tend to offset the crippling effect of twisting bone-twisting attitudes but they do not donot always entirely them correct correct them Sit Sit day after day with crossed legs I 1 a acquire the common habit of I 1 with most of your weight thrown standing on one f foot ot or habitually do one ofa of a 8 hundred little things that are comfortable or fashionable and you are in a fairway fair way to join the ranks of the self made cripples |
