The effect of poor posture on appearance
is obvious to anyone who will look about him on
the street. Not so obvious are the ways in which it
may cause fatigue, aches and pains and improper
functioning of internal organs. This is why we
use ‘‘X-Ray’’ drawings as our illustrations.

Turn back to the drawings on page 2. See
how (in B) the spine and leg bones are straight
enough to support the body weight with the least
possible muscular effort. When poor posture (A)
throws these bones out of line, the muscles must
work harder to hold the body up, and an extra
strain is thrown on the joints and ligaments. This
is why we speak of “body balance’’; good posture
is achieved when the weight is well balanced on the
bony structure. Correct posture, once it becomes
a habit, is the easiest posture to maintain.

Now look at the drawing on the opposite
page to see what happens to the internal organs.
The pelvis is tilted forward (compare its posi-
tion in A, page 2, with the dotted line) and
the abdominal muscles sag outward. The chest
is flattened, crowding the lungs and heart. The
diaphragm, the dome-shaped muscle which sep-
arates the chest and abdomen, is forced down,
pushing the stomach and other organs out of
place. This crowding may interfere with breath-
ing, circulation, digestion, or other functions,
causing many of the vague complaints which
distress otherwise healthy men,, women and
children.