Clara Solves Camallonga, Sandra Alemany Mut, Sara Gil Mora, Beatriz Nácher Fernández, Raquel Marzo Roselló, Carol Soriano García, Juan Carlos González García, Lydia Benages Grifo

Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia. Universitat Politècnica de València. Edificio 9C. Camino de Vera s/n (46022) Valencia, Spain

The Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) was awarded the tender by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) to analyze the demands of the experts from the different Technical Committees for Standardization linked to various child sectors, as well as the information on the anthropometry and strength of the child population available in Europe, and the quality of such information.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, experts from the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) belonging to the different Technical Committees associated with children have highlighted the need to improve the regulatory requirements regarding the use of a wide range of products for children. To this end, it is essential to have information on the anthropometry and strength that is representative of the child population in the different regions that make up the European area.

It is well known that the average shape and dimensions of human beings change from generation to generation due to the influence, among other factors, of the socio-economic environment, which is called the secular trend. Secular trend studies in Europe show different trends. Some countries show increases in infant growth, with increases in the average height ranging from 1 to 2 cm per decade. In other countries, the increase in height has stabilized and an increase in the incidence of obesity is observed. Therefore, the information on anthropometry and strength must be updated to correctly characterize child population.

Since the Technical Committees are responsible for developing and updating the standards, having this information is essential to correctly define the ergonomic and safety requirements set out in them. Otherwise, some safety aspects remain unregulated in the standards due to the lack of criteria. In addition, the use of incorrect or outdated information may generate specifications that do not cover the entire target population.

Nowadays, the arrival of 3D technology has promoted anthropometric campaigns in different countries, but the information is dispersed and, in many cases, not public. As regards information about strength, the studies conducted are even more limited and always related to very specific research studies. Therefore, the Technical Committee CEN/TC 122, Ergonomics, decided to develop the Anthropometric Data for Children project in order to know which updated information on anthropometry and strength is available in Europe and can be used by the experts involved in the development of the standards. To this end, the CEN has established a specific working group, of which the IBV is a member, CEN/TC 122/WG 1/TG1 Anthropometric Data of Children, integrated by experts in anthropometry, technology centers, companies and children’s products associations.

The IBV, technical leader of the project—in which the Technological Institute for Children’s Products and Leisure (AIJU) also participated—analyzed the demands of the experts in standardization of children's products and reviewed the existence, availability and quality of the information on the anthropometry and strength of the European child population. The project was very ambitious in scope:

♦ Standardization aspects were considered in all sectors related to children: toys, childcare, playgrounds, furniture, sports, clothing, footwear and child restraint systems (Figure 1).

♦ The analysis included the child population between 0 and 18 years, setting eight age groups in the 0-3 years range, and a yearly segmentation for the remaining range.

♦ The anthropometric variability associated with the different European regions was considered, with an individualized review by country in Europe and adjacent regions.

Figure 1. Children sectors involved in the project

The project was finished in October 2016. On the basis of the results obtained, the CEN/TC 122/WG 1 will present the actions to transfer the results and the need to complete the existing data in future projects.

DEVELOPMENT

During the development of the project, the demands of the regulatory experts regarding the application of anthropometric and strength child data in the standardization, design and evaluation of products were analyzed. To this end, surveys and discussion groups were carried out with more than 200 European experts from the different sectors included in the project. The collections of measurements of anthropometry and strength demanded by each sector belonging to the groups are shown in Figure 2. The analysis of the results made it possible to define both the global demands and the collection of specific measurements required independently by each sector.

Figure 2. Groups of measurements analyzed in the project

The analysis of the information on the anthropometry and the strength of the European child population focused on 30 European countries, Turkey, Russia and Belarus. The search was based on a thorough review of the scientific, technical and commercial references available in both digital and print publications. It included articles, reports, studies, books, as well as the contributions made by the network of IBV collaborators composed of European experts in anthropometry.

The review detected more than 180 studies on anthropometry or on stength spread all over Europe with measurements of children between 0 and 18 years old (Figure 3). In order to determine the availability of these databases and their quality, the IBV contacted the authors and owners of the studies.

Figure 3. Countries with children databases on anthropometry or strength (dark gray)

CONCLUSIONS

The analysis of the references found made it possible to determine the following aspects:

♦ The availability of anthropometric and strength data, which particular centers have data available and whether such data are public or not.

♦ How representative data are. The country where the study was conducted, the ages and genders included.

♦ The size of the sample. It refers to the number of boys and girls included in each age group. For each group of measurements shown in Figure 2, and by age groups, a minimum sample size was established in order to identify the existing databases that provide reliable information and which, therefore, can be used to generate regulatory criteria.

♦ The relevance of the measurements obtained. In general terms, studies performed with 3D scanning technology are more relevant than those that use traditional methods, because they provide a large number of measurements and allow using ergonomic body shapes.

Finally, the demands of the regulatory experts and the information currently available—considering the different geographical areas that make up Europe—, the collections of measurements required by the experts, and the ages covered by the different studies were compared. Although a large amount of anthropometric information has been collected and proves to be useful to develop and improve the regulations associated with children's products, most of such information focuses on global body measurements and the standing posture. There is a lack of specific studies focused on parts of the body such as the hands, feet and head, which are fundamental to regulate safety aspects (e.g. pinch points, suffocation). With regard to functional anthropometry (sitting position and reaches), the studies available are very limited and include a low number of measurements. Concerning strength measurements, there are a few relevant studies focused on children population.

As a result of the work developed, the IBV has established itself as the international center with the largest number of databases containing child anthropometric information of the European population, which includes around 5,000 3D records of European children of both genders between 3 and 18 years. These records include both full body scans in different postures and scans of body parts. This knowledge—accessible to the standardization committees and national industry—is a differentiating factor in the development of safe and ergonomic children's products.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the CEN for the trust put in the IBV to lead the implementation of the Anthropometric Data for Children project (SA/CEN2014-09).