The most frequent cause of illness-related absenteeism here in Germany and in other industrial countries mainly consists of back problems. Together with adults and senior citizens, increasing numbers of children and youngsters also suffer from backache. There are many different causes of spinal conditions, including incorrect personal behaviour, poor diet, inadequate exercise, negative psychic stress, surroundings that are not back-friendly, etc.

Today people spend much more time sitting than just a few decades ago. Whether at school, in the office or in front of the television: sitting is stress. Both young and old are affected by the lack of exercise.

People with back problems turn to back schools and physiotherapists, where they can learn a great deal about back-friendly behaviour.

But what about back-friendly surroundings? Do those affected know what to look out for when purchasing back-friendly everyday commodities, such as office furniture, car seats, beds, shoes, bikes, upholsterered furniture, TV chairs, and do they know what attributes these products should have?

How high should a back-friendly desk be? Which settings does an office chair need to have? What are the characteristics of a back-friendly bed or back-friendly TV chair? How should back-friendly shoes, school furniture, bikes, car seats and upholstered furniture be designed? Manufacturers frequently provide completely wrong solutions and answers to these questions.

But not even medical experts always have the right answers. Consumption and buying behaviour is still far too rarely geared to those appropriate ergonomic products which are on offer today for many different areas of life. And yet there is evidence to prove that back-friendly everyday commodities offer important assistance.

In order to fulfil its educational objective in this area, the AGR collects multidisciplinary information from the medical world. This knowledge from the various medical professions is then pooled and passed on to those affected and also to doctors, therapists, psychologists and industrial developers and designers. This brings about a clear improvement in the situation, as the supply of back-friendly products grows in just the same way as the specialist information and practical tips that are made easily accessible to both experts and the general public.