Many children today complain about back pain from carrying heavy backpacks to school. Health experts are now sounding the alarm about this growing problem, advising parents to double-check their children’s book bags. They say that overweight book bags can impact children more than people realize.
Data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission paints a clearer picture of the severity of the problem. The agency estimates that an annual average of 7,500 kids under 19 years old had serious backpack-related injuries from 2017 to 2019. The children had severe enough injuries to warrant emergency room visits.
While most children with back pain don’t require a visit to the ER, it can still take a toll on them. For example, one mom of a 12-year-old girl said her daughter complained about upper back and neck pain for months, according to Fox News.
Initially, the mom from Long Island, N.Y., thought her daughter’s involvement in sports might explain her body aches. However, a visit to their family physician revealed her daughter’s overloaded backpack was to blame.
“She was picking up a backpack of books and going from classroom to classroom throughout the day and then carrying the bag to and from school. That’s a lot of lifting,” the mom told Fox News Digital in an interview.
After the appointment, her daughter underwent several weeks of osteopathic therapy to alleviate her neck and back pain. The treatment included spinal manipulation to improve movement by releasing pressure within her joints. The osteopath also recommended an exercise routine to improve her upper back strength to support the book bag’s weight.
Health experts warn how parents should keep an eye on their child’s backpack weight. They listed these warning signs of an overloaded book bag:
The child struggles to put on or take off the backpack Child’s posture shifts (ex. they lean to the side or forward) when wearing a book bag The child complains of numbness or tingling in their extremities Red indentations appear on the child’s shoulders from the book bag The child expresses discomfort when wearing the backpack Health Experts Explain How Heavy Backpacks Harm Children
Dr. David Gentile, an osteopathic physician from New York, regularly treats patients complaining of back pain. He told Fox News that heavy backpacks could severely affect a child’s posture. Book bags can cause the spine to curve and twist to the side, also known as scoliosis.
Thousands of children and adolescents receive treatment for the condition each year. However, Gentile believes teaching children proper posture and self-care may prevent spinal conditions.
“We see it all the time in the older generation — the use of comfortable chairs at work, the sit-stand desks,” he said.
So “it’s evident we have become more aware of proper work ergonomics. Now it might be time to really educate children about these comfortable and functional changes to improve their health outcomes,” said Gentile.
He added that cities across the country should launch public health campaigns to help prevent childhood back pain. Gentile said that early identification of symptoms and genetic factors could also alleviate pain resulting from children carrying too much weight.
He added, “The implementation of physical therapists in physical education classes and educating teachers, administrators, children, and their families on appropriate ergonomics could all be beneficial.”
Most people don’t give their child’s backpack a second thought during back-to-school shopping. However, according to Edward Farrell, co-founder of Physical Solutions Physical Therapy, choosing one …
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