1. Sitting on chairs and our Health
The mismatch between Nature and Culture
The origin of Zami
Piet van Loon
Orthopedic Surgeon
Care to Move Deventer
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
2. Global Burden of Diseases: the human
spine at risk
• Back Pain no.:1 in all “Western”countries ( The
Lancet June 2015)
• Backpain in children the most fast growing
problem in many countries (van Loon et.al, Medisch
Contact 2013 )
• What can be true for adults, is certainly not
true in children
• Without proper knowledge of anatomical
and physiological processes in etiology no
answers!!
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
No organised prevention!!
No preventive Medicine
No belief in or incentives
to go for nonsurgical solutions
3. We blame “ageing”, immobility and
obesity
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
4. We forgot the proper development of
the body as a true source of Health
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
Until these came
into our lives !!
The Gameboy back
5. Tsunami of bad posture related backpain in
children reaches medical practice!
• In NL > 40 % of children
have backpain!
• Identical reports in UK,
Portugal, Finland etc.
• Recognition on role of
bad posture has just
started……just by looking
• …and the role of the CNS
in creating alignement
too
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
6. As an orthopedic surgeon I had to go
back in history
6
• From the start: sitting has to be
blamed!
• Taking care of children’s spines
(posture) was sublimated in the
German speaking world
(Education and Medicine) at the
end 19th century
• But in furniture solutions one has
to wait for Ruud Jan Kokke to
sublimate Andry’s idea’s
1741: start of preventive Medicine,
gymnastics and therapeutical
excersises, posture guidance by corsets
AND active sitting
PAOG UMCG Oktober 2015
7. Scoliosis : knowledge around 1900
forgotten!
• German Textbooks not
available or read in UK/
USA
• Pedagogic leaders
(e.g.Frӧbel,Montessori)
: first bodily functions
and strength, than
cognition.
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
Invention
TLI brace
for postural
problems
SCOLIOSIS
KYPHOSIS
9. A good body posture
• Is “produced” during the
growth period
• Is the needed alignement
to balance our heavy skull
• “Form follows function”
undisputed
• A child must be educated
to “learn” a good posture
and a strong body
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
10. Where did sitting on chairs come
from?
• Once only “the
mighty”sat on chairs
• A complete cultural
change in lifestyle
• After a century of
posture-preserving
schoolfurniture the
“chair” came into child’s
life Brunn :Thonet 2005
“Die Kultur des Sitzen auf
eine Stuhl.” Hajo
Eickhoff
11. The human body is not created to
tolerate prolonged sitting on chairs
• The form of the human
pelvis cannot stand 90
degrees of flexion of the
hip
• A chair (90⁰ of hips) is not
related to any natural
form
• Many “lifestyle
originating diseases” are
caused by sitting and the
lack of movement
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
12. So we went back to Nature with Zami
• By sitting on natural
forms you invite natural
postures
• A seat with natural curves
corresponding with the
anatomical curves in our
skeleton
• No negative effects
• But a seat is part of
individual choices in
prevention and no
“therapy”
Zami at the Medica Dusseldorf 2015
