A first grade class used standing desks to improve learning in the classroom. Seventy percent of the students stood full-time after just six weeks.
In a previous post we briefly touched on the benefits of standing desks or adjustable height desks in the classroom. Kids burn off excess energy, will focus more on the task at hand, and will be much healthier with a standing desk. Now, there is even more evidence that standing desks in the classroom are beneficial. Just check out this study.
Recently in a first-grade classroom in Texas, students were all equipped with standing desks. The desks came with a stool, but gave students the freedom to stand as well.
According to Monica Wendel, co-author of the study published last year in the American Journal of Public Health, “Most students want to be standing, to be moving,” after six weeks, 70 percent of the students never used their stools to sit. And the other 30 percent stood the majority of the time they were at their desks.
Overall the study showed that using a standing desk significantly increases calorie burn in first graders. The results showed that heavier students in the 85th percentile for weight based on gender and age burned a staggering 32 percent more calories standing than sitting! This is huge in combating obesity from an early age.
Some teachers might worry that using a standing desk in the classroom would be a distraction, but according to the study, standing desks actually boost productivity—especially in young students like these first graders who have a lot of energy to burn.
Here’s my favorite part about this study. Apparently, just a few weeks after the study began the teachers even requested standing desks for themselves.
Okay, this might actually be my favorite part about the study… Apparently when they tried to have students sit on stability balls rather than use standing desks, it was, as you can imagine, a bit chaotic. Students were bouncing around the classroom, toppling over, throwing their balls…
So if you have a little one who needs a place to do his or her homework, opt for a standing desk or height adjustable desk … It’s probably best to leave the stability balls for the adults.
What kind of desk setup do your kids use for homework?
Source: ChicagoTribune.com
