SELECTING a suitable schoolbag is important to ensure minimal stress to the back of a growing child. A survey cited in a regional newspaper indicated that an average schoolbag weighs as much as 8kg. This is heavier than a bag of rice (5kg), but it is not unusual for it sometimes to be equal to two bags of rice!
What is a safe load?
In research reported in the Australian Journal of Physiotherapy, Professor Leon Straker warns bag load should not exceed 15% of body weight. That means a child of 30kg should carry a schoolbag of 4.5kg at maximum.
In the study, participating adolescents were asked a series of questions such as how long they carried their schoolbags for, how they carried their school bags, the time taken to get to school, method of travel, and their perceptions about the bag's weight and the fatigue levels they felt.
Professor Straker, Director of Research at Curtin University's School of Physiotherapy (Western Australia) observed that about half of all participants experienced back and neck pain, with slightly more females reporting neck pain.
Females also had a higher prevalence than males for all measures of spinal pain. While the onset of puberty may play a role in this, the gender difference may also be that females have lower pain tolerance and thresholds and self-report pain more readily.
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Nevertheless, all children dislike heavy schoolbags and parents and teachers should take special care for their school going children. This is especially important for younger children beginning their primary school years.
Potential consequences from sustained carrying of a heavy schoolbag
- muscle strain
- distortion of the spinal curve
- drooping shoulders
- muscle spasms
- chronic back, neck and shoulder pains
What can parents do?
Yes, parents could try to get school lockers for their kids to keep their heavier books in school in order to reduce the weight in the schoolbag. But that can be at the expense of having no reference study aids at home.
Some concerned parents may then even go to the extent of buying two sets of key textbooks for their child, one to be kept in school and another at home. This assumes your child is able to get his or her own locker (probably a coveted space in the school), or that there's space provided for such storage in the classroom. But what is indeed within your control is the acquisition of a tough well-designed schoolbag.
Monitor your child closely as they trudge to school in their primary years. He or she must be able to automatically stand up straight with his schoolbag. The important thing to bear in mind is that we should not buy just any bag for your child. Remember also that this is the time when the foundations of good posture are set.
Chiropractor Dr Nelson Lim of Discover Chiropractic Clinic says: "Scoliosis and low back pain has been called a 21st century enigma which continues to cause disability and distress in a large proportion of the children population".
Pointers for selecting a good schoolbag
- Is the bag itself (without a load) heavy?
- Does its construction allow the weight in the bag to be distributed equally on the surface of his back?
- Is there well-ventilated cushioned grooves when the bag is in contact with his young back? This is an important factor to consider in a hot climate.
- Is there wide padded backpack straps that can provide stress-free support to his shoulders?
