From first grade and on, it seems children have to carry books that weigh almost as much as they do. It will come as no shock at all to parents with school-aged children that these heavy book bags are resulting in more and more back pain complaints. While you can't ditch carrying books altogether if you don't want to flunk out of school, there are a few adjustments that can be made to prevent backaches.
CNN reports that the weight of a backpack should be less than 10 to 15 percent of the child's weight. If the child weighs 100 pounds or less, they shouldn't carry a backpack that weighs more than 15 pounds.
“The dilemma is, even though we recommend that backpacks should weigh less than 15 percent of the kids' total body weight, sometimes that’s not practical, because they may have a lot of homework or need to study for a test,” says Dr. David Marshall, Medical Director of Children's Health Care of Atlanta Sports.
Another issue is that a popular way to wear backpacks is to let them hang low. This causes the weight to place a strain on the shoulders. Adjusting the straps so that the backpack is higher will reduce the strain. Alternatively, kids can use rolling backpacks or try to find books online so that they don't have to carry them.
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