Who hasn’t wondered whether small children lugging oversized, heavy backpacks to-and-from school might be risking serious injury to their growing spines which will one day cause them to suffer from serious back pain?
Apparently, there is real cause for concern.
According to a recent U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission study, more than 75% of students ages 8-12 suffer from increasing back pain inflicted by carrying their schoolwork and supplies in backpacks or similar totes.
Some younger elementary school students are literally carrying one-third their body weight for prolonged periods of time and distance. That puts a lot of stress on a body in the midst of development.
And, the heavy burdens are not just affecting those students who are small in stature.
Student back injuries are widespread. A total of 96% of the pupils monitored regularly haul much too heavy a pack on their back. In 2001 alone, 7,000 children went to U.S. emergency rooms for backpack-related injuries. And, 60% of orthopedic doctors contacted regarding the study reported that they have treated children suffering from back pain caused by their heavy bags.
The study alluded to this startling calculation: A child carrying a 12-pound backpack, lifting it 10 times per day for the entire school year, has carried and lifted a combined load of 21,600 pounds — the equivalent of six mid-sized cars.
Children should not carry backpacks that exceed more than 10% of their body weight, which translates into a 5- to 10-pound load for elementary students.
Even with the continued progression of electronic learning — which one would think leads to fewer books — the backpack has become a survival kit for the action-packed lives that today’s children lead during and after school hours. Parents and teachers have to take an active role in limiting what is literally loaded onto these children. If we don’t address it now, the picture of a child carrying numerous books — which many have seen as a sign for a bright future — could foreshadow a painful outlook as well.
Have your child’s backpack evaluated by a licensed chiropractor to see if it’s causing damage to the child’s spine. There are new backpacks on the market that are designed to take the most stress off the spine and help the child regain the proper curvatures of the spine. Parents can really limit the amount of spinal stress by monitoring the child’s backpack and also watch their child's posture while they study or perform their homework. This in turn will lessen the degree of spinal stress and prevent problems later in life.
Dr. Scott Glocke is the director of Back Cove Family Chiropractic in Yarmouth. He has been a family wellness chiropractor for the past six years and specializes in wellness for the entire family. Contact him at drscott@backcovechiro.com.