Newswise — Over the next two months, millions of children will head back to school, with books, supplies and lunches slung over their shoulders. Although convenient and popular, backpacks can cause pain or encourage the development of a chronic structural disease when used incorrectly.
"It's not just the weight that children carry that causes problems; it's also the way they tend to carry that weight," said Dr. Robert Hahn, a specialist in osteopathic and rehabilitative medicine at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. "A fully loaded backpack should never exceed more than 10 to 15 percent of a child's body weight."
Hahn noted, however, that many parents don't even suspect when a backpack might be too heavy. He cited a 2003 study involving elementary school children whose backpacks exceeded 10 percent of their body weight. It found that fewer than five percent of parents knew how much their child's backpack weighed. Only about a third had checked to see what their children were carrying.
"If your child leans forward to carry a backpack, that's a sure sign that it's too heavy, which could cause an injury," Hahn said. "And carrying a backpack too low on the back or slung over just one shoulder can also lead to back pain because it causes the muscles to support the weight instead of the bones."
While the back pain may not last, poor posture from too much weight or carrying a pack incorrectly can contribute to scoliosis, which can lead to back problems throughout life.
Scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, often shows up first during the rapid growth spurts that occur from ages 10 through the adolescent years. To understand how scoliosis can develop, imagine that the back is like a crane used to move heavy materials. The spine is the steel structure that holds the weight and the muscles are the guy wires that provide stability and direction. Poor posture causes uneven muscle use which can pull the spine out of alignment, leading to scoliosis.
Hahn suggests keeping these tips in mind:
"¢ Choose backpacks that have wide, well-padded shoulder straps.
"¢ Make sure children carry the backpack using both straps (one strap over each shoulder).
"¢ Adjust the backpack straps so that the bottom of the backpack is at least two inches above the waist.
"¢ Use the backpack's waist strap to help distribute the weight more evenly.
"¢ Adjust the shoulder straps or remove some of the excess weight from the pack if your child needs to lean forward to carry the backpack.
"¢ Consider wheeled backpacks, especially for younger children.
UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
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