**2. Working method**

posture and preventing worsening of the deformity. Many authors have dealt with the problem of evaluating body posture, as well as spinal deformities and the reliability of these results [2–5]. The analysis of their work included the postural status of the children in the city of Novi Sad. It was a sample of 242 examinees, who

conducted with the analysis of certain segments of the body based on the method of Napoleon Wolanski [6]. The analysis of the results showed that the boys had good stomach and spine posture, while the posture of other segments was incorrect. The girls had incorrect stomach and spine posture, while the posture of the other segments was good [6]. At the end, the authors concluded that the postural status of the 6-year olds in Novi Sad was disconcerting, and, in the future, it would require taking appropriate measures in order to prevent and realign those postures to their original state [6]. Using the method of Napoleon Wolanski, an evaluation of the body posture of students in the fifth and seventh grade of an elementary school in Sarajevo was conducted. The results have shown that the students in the seventh grade have significantly worse body posture than the students in the fifth grade. It was concluded that the students in the seventh grade had more poor body posture more often located in the areas of the shoulders and neck [7]. This states that 53% of the examinees have incorrect body posture. In conjugation with this statistic, some authors point out that even more than 70% of the school children have some sort of body disorders and certain difficulties that are a consequence of a lack of body movement [8, 9]. The percentages of the presence of postural disorders in young people substantially vary with different authors, and it depends on the specificity of the sample, age, life area, and the applied methodology in detecting the disorders, etc. Winged blades and concave feet are significantly more present in both the boys and the girls from rural areas than those in urban settings. On the other hand, there is a greater presence of a flat foot deformity in both genders from urban areas. Also, we have noticed that the greatest number of disorders refer to the functional shape, which is at the same time the mildest. It is obvious that the presence of incompletely fixated and structural disorders is significantly smaller. It must be noted, however, that it is a significant percentage in the frequency of the more severe forms of body deviations. It is known that children from rural areas are thinner than the city children for several reasons. Not only are they more physically active, but also they are healthier and receive better nutrition. Considering the fact that the winged blades are a lot easily recognized in thinner examinees than those who have larger amounts of subcutaneous fat, this result is not a surprise. As for the status of the foot arch, the obtained results are only a confirmation that the children from urban areas are less mobile and are not prone to be a part of physical activities, especially those forms that are intended to strengthen the foot and lower leg muscles. The fact is that the greatest percentages of the postural disorders refer to the functional form. However, with an adequate program of corrective physical therapy, we can stop the further progression of the physical deviation into a worse stage and largely correct the postural disorder(s) and align the body to its normal position. Obviously, there is a significantly smaller presence of incompletely fixated and structural deformities [10]. A lot of research has been done on proper body posture [6, 8, 11– 13]. In comparison to the urban children, the everyday lifestyle of the children in rural schools requires more physical activity outside during the day and includes a healthier diet. In contrast, the urban children often eat unhealthy food from the school kitchen, such as pizza, croissants, pies, various pastries, etc. The students are still not aware enough to choose vegetables and eat less sweet. Foods with artificial flavors are easily within reach, and, once they taste it, everything else tastes bad. Fast food is a modern convenience and can lead to obesity. This has contributed to improper body posture and deformities in an increasing number of children. It can

were 6 years old. The evaluation of the postural status of the examinees was

*Safety and Health for Workers - Research and Practical Perspective*

**24**
