Students - Back Packs & Back Problems
There are many different styles of back packs available. Which one is correct for your child’s school needs and what can you as a parent do to help prevent back problems?
As a Chiropractor it would give me great pleasure to see every back pack custom fitted for each child’s frame the way high quality hiking and military packs are sized.
Unfortunately the decision making process on the types of allowable back packs has already been made by the school system. For security reasons all back packs must be of the see through type. This leaves two basic materials to be utilized: see through mesh or clear vinyl plastic. There are some common sense principles you can follow to make sure that your child does not experience back problems from these packs.
The most obvious solution is reduce the amount of weight that the student carries. They don’t have to carry all their supplies and all their books all the time. A school locker can be used to hold a student’s main supply with items retrieved as necessary for each class.
Many assignments can be sent and received via e-mail and floppy discs can replace the many note books. You can also have a single supply of generic loose leaf paper and a single clip board with separate folders for each class. Notes are taken on the loose leaf paper and then kept in the separate folders for each class. This in turn reduces the total weight normally taken by a notebook.
When wearing the back pack there are a few things to consider. Ergonomically speaking designer back packs with only one shoulder strap are terrible for your posture and do as much damage as carrying a huge purse over one shoulder does. Avoid them at all costs.
Your bag should have 2 shoulder straps and a waist/kidney belt. Both shoulder straps must be used at the same time and adjusted to proper tension.
They shouldn’t be so tight as to cut off circulation and make it almost impossible to take off the pack without fumbling with it nor should the straps be so lose that the weight gets distributed to the lateral aspect of your shoulders. The waist/kidney strap should be used at all times because the heaviest items in your bag always settle to the bottom and the strap keeps these items closer to your body. This decreases the stress on your lumbar spine.
A second option to a pack carried on the back is one with wheels and a handle. The only two things to consider here is that the tires for the bag should be stable enough to handle the load and that the handle should be long enough so that the student can walk upright while dragging the bag behind.
Dr of Chiropractic, Former Navy. From Guam.
Tags: Back pack, back pain, backpack, ergonomics, single strap back pack
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