FACT SHEET                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                                Women’s Epidemic Round Back Posture

•     Up to fifty-one percent of healthy women from ages twenty to sixty-four are kyphotic in their normal posture.(1)

•     Compared to younger and older age groups, the most dramatic decline in thoracic extension mobility occurs in women
        in their thirties and forties.(2)

•      Beyond approximately age forty, the rate of increase in thoracic kyphosis is much higher in women than men.(3)

•      An increased thoracic kyphosis occurs during pregnancy.(4)

•      An increased thoracic kyphosis is characteristic of women who habitually wear high-heeled shoes.(5)

•      An increased thoracic kyphosis is characteristic of women who overdevelop the upper rectus abdominis muscle with sit-ups
        and crunches.(6,7)

•      A woman’s breast development increases the forward bending moment on the thoracic spine via the rib cage.

•      A habitual postural kyphosis can play a role in bone remodeling among healthy premenopausal women.(1)

•      T11 and T12, the vertebrae located at the “hinge area” for spinal flexion, are the most frequently deformed vertebrae in
          postmenopausal women. (8)  (This T11 - T12 spinal region is the exact location of the lower thoracic support with the
          YogaBack for Driving and the ZACKBACK Posture Chair. As a result, the hinging forward and downward of the rib cage
          is prevented, correcting a round back/round shoulders posture.)

REFERENCES

   1.  Cutler, W.B., Friedmann, E., and Geneovese-Stone, E.: Prevalence of kyphosis in a healthy sample of pre- and postmenopausal women. 
        American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 72:219-225, 1993.

  2.   O’Gorman, H., and Jull, G.: Thoracic kyphosis and mobility: the effect of age.  Physiotherapy Practice, 3:154-162, 1987.

  3.   Fon, G.T., Pitt, M.J., and Thies, A.C.: Thoracic kyphosis: range in normal subjects. American Journal of Roentgenology, 134:979-983, 1980.

  4.  Bullock, J.E., Jull, G.A., and Bullock, M.I.: The relationship of low back pain to postural changes during pregnancy.
       The Australian Journal of Physiotherapy, 33:10-17, 1987.

  5.  Antioch College Studies: The Effects of Modern Shoes Upon Proper Body Mechanics. Yellow Springs, Antioch College, 1931.

  6.  Zacharkow, D.: Posture: Sitting, Standing, Chair Design and Exercise. Springfield, Thomas, 1988.

  7.    Zacharkow, D.: ZACKBACK Sitting. Rochester, ZACKBACK International, 1998.

  8.   Puche, R.C., et al.: The natural history of kyphosis in postmenopausal women.  Bone, 17:239-246, 1995.