When Dr. Preeti Parikh was in school, her friends and parents were concerned by the heavy weight on her shoulders — literally, the weight of her backpack.
“Oh my god, what do you have rocks in here?” her parents would ask her. She never paid much attention to the back pain she was experiencing, but now the New York-based pediatrician is on a mission to educate families about the dangers of improper backpack use, which can affect posture, cause back pain and muscle sprains, and also spur more serious health situations. If a child feels numbness or tingling, for instance, this could even mean a pinched nerve.
The correct way to wear a backpack looks like this, according to Parikh: Two shoulder straps that should be wide and padded; straps along the waist and chest to help distribute the weight; heavier objects placed more in the center of the backpack and toward the bottom. Packs shouldn’t be worn below the hip, and should be very tight, hugging a child’s back.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says a child’s backpack should weigh no more than 10 to 20 percent of his or her’s body weight. Parikh goes a step further, placing the target at under 10 to 15 percent.
This goal can prove challenging, given how much time students now spend at school. Many children leave home at 7 a.m. and don’t arrive home until 4 or 5 p.m.
“A lot of kids are now carrying their textbooks back and forth from school … and a lot kids are staying after school for their after-school activities,” Parikh says.
Parikh’s advice is to keep an open dialogue with children. This can be difficult once kids reach a certain age, when “it’s more style and fashion over function,” (think: donning messenger bags or wearing a backpack on one shoulder). But this is where education for both parents and older children is critical.
Another solution the AAP recommends is a rolling backpack, especially for students who have a lot to carry. But the group acknowledges that stairs, snow and locker size can present complications. Parikh also says many schools have banned rolling backpacks, which can become tripping hazards.
Among the host of other children’s health concerns plaguing you this school year, these tangible backpack solutions could at least lift a (figurative) weight off your shoulders.
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Is Your Kid’s Backpack Too Heavy? originally appeared on usnews.com
