YOUNGSTERS are making a stand for healthier lifestyles with the help of new classroom desks.

Pupils at Gisburn Primary School will trial six ‘Eiger’ student desks, designed by the Clitheroe-based company I Want A Standing Desk.

The design allows normal tables to become taller for children to stand at them during lesson time.

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The wooden worktops, named after the Eiger mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland, will be used in every classroom in the next few weeks.

Headteacher Catherine Grimshaw said the desks could help children with their day-to-day learning.

She said: “Standing up provides a lot of health benefits including burning more calories and having better circulation.

“Each classroom will get to have a go and we will see how the children respond to them.

“Nick White, the founder of the company, came in and talked to the children and showed them what the desk was about and why it is good to use them.

“The children were curious when the desks came in and it will be great to see in a few weeks’ time how they get on.

“Children are often sitting down during the day and they have lots of energy.

“The teachers will have a go with them as well.”

Public Health England figures showed almost 20 per cent of children aged 10-11 in the UK were obese in 2015/16.

A further 14 per cent were classed as overweight, almost 10 per cent of children aged four and five were classed as obese and around 13 per cent were overweight.

Mr White said he wanted to tackle child obesity as it has become an increasing problem in the UK.

He said: “We are creating a generation of habitual sitters because of classrooms, computers, TV and technology.

“We believe the desk can help with this.

“Studies in the UK and USA have shown a tremendous benefit to classrooms where they have been installed.

“They have improved activity levels, cognitive behaviour and results.

“Obviously we aren’t asking children to stand up all day but just to be a bit more active and engaged in their learning.

“Gisburn is a superb forward thinking primary school that is showcasing to the rest of the UK active learning in classrooms.”