AT least 50 per cent of children in Spain under 15 years of age suffer with chronic back pain, claims worrying research.

And by the time they reach adulthood, nearly two-thirds of those will suffer severe muscular disorders as a result.

This was revealed yesterday in Salamanca by Pedro Borrego Jiménez (pictured), head of the General Council of Physiotherapy Colleges, and Javier Sainz de Murieta Rodeyro, dean of the Professional College of Physiotherapists in Madrid.

They have both started a campaign titled, ‘Posture hygiene in schools’, in which cartoon strips help show children how to sit properly to avoid damaging their backs.

The poster, featuring a pencil with a face who shows good and bad postures, will be delivered to all schools in Spain.

This campaign has already taken off in Madrid and the Balearic Islands, where physiotherapists visit schools and play interactive games to teach pupils how to sit correctly.

Borrego Jiménez stressed that many back problems suffered by adults could have been avoided in earliest childhood.