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Muscle strain and fatigue
- These heavy loads place stress on the spine and shoulders of children, causing muscle strain and fatigue. For some kids the aches and pains are bad enough to seek medical attention. Too much weight can also lead to bad habits such as poor posture and excessive slouching.
www.health.harvard.edu/child-and-teen-health/bad-backs-and-backpacks
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What happens if a student wears a heavy backpack?
What are the health risks associated with heavy backpacks?
How much should a student's backpack weigh?
Do kids carry a lot of weight in their backpacks?
Why do students need backpacks?
Can a student reduce the weight of a backpack?
This study identified the associations between school backpack weight (recorded as a percentage of the student’s overall BW), how the students wore their backpack, how long they carried the backpack, their socioeconomic status, and the prevalence, severity and chronicity of back pain.
Oct 28, 2021 · Changes in the position of the head and trunk are two common adaptations when carrying excessive weight. When backpacks were loaded at 15% of body weight, significant changes occurred in head angle (reduction of craniovertebral angle or increase in anterior head position) [1, 7, 47].
- João Barbosa, Mário C. Marques, Henrique P. Neiva, Catarina Santos, Luís Branquinho, Ricardo Ferraz,...
- 2021
It is a serious issue for children to be carrying excessive weight in their backpacks. Alternatives have appeared in order to minimize the effects of transporting heavy backpacks, and several models have been proposed. For example, ‘BackTpack’ places the load bilaterally on the user, with two large pockets at the hip.
Jan 25, 2017 · Although it might not be quite so heavy, some kids actually do carry around a lot of weight in their backpacks. These heavy loads place stress on the spine and shoulders of children, causing muscle strain and fatigue. For some kids the aches and pains are bad enough to seek medical attention.
- hhp_info@health.harvard.edu
- Overview
- The problem with heavy backpacks
- What about trolley backpacks?
- Experts weigh in
•Researchers say a child’s backpack should weigh no more than 10 percent of what the student weighs.
•They add that trolley backpacks should weigh less than 20 percent of a child’s weight.
•Experts say heavy backpacks can cause muscle soreness as well as back and neck pain.
•Among the tips they offer parents are carrying only essentials in backpacks, leaving other items in lockers, and cleaning out backpacks once a week.
How much stuff should a child cram into their school backpack?
Researchers think they may have an answer.
Many people can remember carrying their too-heavy backpacks to and from school. It wasn’t good for kids then, and it’s not good for children now.
“The use of heavy backpacks has sometimes been related with back pain or neck and shoulder discomfort, and even with heaviness perception and increased fatigue,” González told Healthline.
According to Dr. Bradley Weinberger, a pediatrician at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, carrying an overly heavy backpack can have the following adverse effects on your child’s health:
•increased risk of developing neck and back pain due to changes in posture and movement patterns
•muscle soreness from the straps
•negative effect on balance, potentially increasing the risk of falls or other injuries
“Users of school trolleys seem to have better feelings about the perception of weight, fatigue, and back pain while pulling their school trolley than backpack users,” González said.
Kulik also spoke in favor of trolley backpacks, saying she “only sees advantages” with this alternative because it “takes weight off the shoulders and back.”
However, Taylor Lyn Hanberry, a mother of two and a virtual assistant from Charleston, South Carolina, isn’t convinced trolleys are the answer to traditional backpack weight concerns.
“Honestly, I probably won’t switch to a trolley backpack because when I was in school I know it added to the bullying of students,” Hanberry told Healthline. “I’m not going to add to what is already a big problem if I can help it.”
There are also weather conditions, such as snow and heavy downpours, to consider.
They can make pulling trolleys on sidewalks or unpaved areas a challenge for many children.
If the trolley backpack system doesn’t suit your child’s needs, Weinberger suggests that “parents find a high-quality, low-weight backpack with adequately padded straps.”
And parents should help their children reduce their backpack weight regardless. But how?
“Select a light backpack in itself. If the empty backpack is already heavy, try to find another lighter one,” González said.
She also suggested the following strategies:
•Pack only the essential school supplies in the backpack.
•Use lockers on the ground floor of the schools.
Oct 30, 2018 · Health risks associated with heavy backpacks include muscle fatigue, poor posture and muscle imbalance. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a student’s backpack should weigh no more than 20 percent of their body weight.
Jan 24, 2024 · Poorly designed straps, lack of adequate back support and improper weight distribution within the bag itself all contribute to the strain on a student’s back and shoulders. A 2021 study conducted...
