Back to school: backpacks and backaches
Call me old fashioned, but in my day we measured the amount of homework by the hour. Now it's by the pound.
Backpacks are a great way for your child to schlep stuff back and forth from school. So great, in fact, that many tend to overdo it and carry way too heavy a load. When a backpack is too heavy, the back tends to lurch forward, the muscles in the mid and lower back become overworked, the shoulders stoop, and the neck and/or shoulders and/or back aches (numbness and tingling in the arms and hands is especially worrisome).
Definitive scientific data are not yet in - some studies are reassuring, some a little worrisome - so we don't really know whether such strain in school kids might lead to long term back problems or not.
But I say, hey, let's not wait 10 years to find out, especially when there are a few simple recommendations that seem to prevent the strain in the first place:
Dr P's bottom line
Even if you have to talk to your child's teacher or keep an extra set of books at home, keep the weight of your child's backpack at 10-15% of his/her body weight. Teach him her how to evenly distribute the weight. Find a compromise s/he and you can live with between looking cool and acting back smart.
Related Topics: Pain in the Backpack, Few Parents Check Their Child's Backpack
Technorati Tags: kids, backpain, backpacks
Backpacks are a great way for your child to schlep stuff back and forth from school. So great, in fact, that many tend to overdo it and carry way too heavy a load. When a backpack is too heavy, the back tends to lurch forward, the muscles in the mid and lower back become overworked, the shoulders stoop, and the neck and/or shoulders and/or back aches (numbness and tingling in the arms and hands is especially worrisome).
Definitive scientific data are not yet in - some studies are reassuring, some a little worrisome - so we don't really know whether such strain in school kids might lead to long term back problems or not.
But I say, hey, let's not wait 10 years to find out, especially when there are a few simple recommendations that seem to prevent the strain in the first place:
- Don't let your child tote more than 10-15% of his/her body weight in the backback.
- Encourage him/her to wear both shoulder straps (to evenly distribute the weight) and to keep the straps tight, so the weight rests against the mid and lower back.
- Buy a lightweight (but, of course, very cool looking) backpack with padded shoulders, padded back and waist strap so that the bottom of the pack sits a few inches above the back of the waist.
- Teach your child to pack the heaviest items in the center.
- Encourage him/her to lighten the load in the school locker during the day.
Dr P's bottom line
Even if you have to talk to your child's teacher or keep an extra set of books at home, keep the weight of your child's backpack at 10-15% of his/her body weight. Teach him her how to evenly distribute the weight. Find a compromise s/he and you can live with between looking cool and acting back smart.
Related Topics: Pain in the Backpack, Few Parents Check Their Child's Backpack
Technorati Tags: kids, backpain, backpacks
1 Comments:
hey, what would happen if kids kept using their massive backpacks? I mean, what do parents have to look for developing in the way of spine structure or muscle mass?
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