Correct School Bag Tips For Your Kids

Could your child’s school bag be causing them neck and lower back pain?

It is crazy the amount of books that kids are carrying in their school bags between classes. I am always so surprised when I have a child come into the practice with neck or lower back pain and I ask them how heavy is their school bag? How many books do they need for school each day? Is there a locker facility at school to leave books in?

The answer is always the same, school bags are over loaded
with books and there is no facility to store books during the day.

In some cases I feel that the bag is bigger than the child!

According to the American Academy of paediatrics a child’s
backpack should weigh at most 10-20% of the child’s total body weight.

It is therefore important that kids have the correct bag for
school and that they are carrying them correctly. Carrying heavy school bags
over one shoulder causes uneven weight distribution which forces the spine to compensate
under the uneven load and move to the opposite side. This causes a muscular
imbalance leading to muscle spasm and back pain.

When choosing a school bag for your child a backpack is a
better choice over a satchel or a roller bag as both of these cause uneven
weight distribution. Benefits of a backpack is that can be carried across both shoulders
and sit on the hips, allowing the broad part of the body to take the load of
the bag rather than the spine alone.

It is therefore important that you choose a backpack
carefully and that your kids wear it correctly.

Tips on choosing a backpack

1. A lightweight pack: get one that doesn’t add extra unnecessary weight.
2. Two wide, padded shoulder straps: straps that are too narrow can dig into shoulders. Wide straps also help distribute weight better.
3. A padded back: provides increased comfort and reduce pressure on the back.
4. A waist and chest belt: this helps to distribute the weight more evenly across the body.
5. Multiple compartments: to help distribute the weight throughout the pack.
6. Lighten the load. No matter how well-designed the backpack, less weight is always better. Use the bathroom scale to check that a pack isn’t over 10% to 20% of your child’s body weight.

How to fit the backpack correctly

1. Adjust shoulder straps so the backpack fits closely to the upper part of the body. The further a backpack is away from the body, the more difficult it is to achieve proper balance.
2. The backpack should never hang more than 10cm below the waistline.
3. The top of the pack should sit about 2cm below the shoulders
4. The shoulder straps should sit midway between the neck and shoulder joint.
5. Ensure that the back pack is centred.
6. Buckle the waist and chest belt to help distribute the weight