Avoid Pain From Backpack Use
Back pain is pervasive among American adults, but a
new and disturbing trend is emerging. Young children
are suffering from back pain much earlier than previous
generations, and the use of overweight backpacks is a
contributing factor, according to the American
Chiropractic Association (ACA). In fact, the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that
backpack-related injuries sent more than 7,000 people
to the emergency room in 2001 alone.
“In my own practice, I have noticed a marked increase
in the number of young children who are complaining
about back, neck and shoulder pain,” said Dr. Scott
Bautch, a past president of the American Chiropractic
Association’s Council on Occupational Health. “The first
question I ask these patients is, ‘Do you carry a
backpack to school?’ Almost always, the answer is
‘yes.’”
This new back pain trend among youngsters isn’t
surprising when you consider the disproportionate
amounts of weight they carry in their backpacks –
often slung over just one shoulder. According to Dr.
Bautch, a recent study conducted in Italy found that
the average child carries a backpack that would be the
equivalent of a 39-pound burden for the average adult
man, or a 29-pound load for the average adult woman.
Of those children in the study who carried heavy backpacks
to school, 60 percent had experienced back
pain as a result.
Dr. Bautch also reports that preliminary results of studies
being conducted in France show that the longer a
child wears a backpack, the longer it takes for a curvature
or deformity of the spine to correct itself. “The
question that needs to be addressed next is, ‘does it
ever return to normal?’”
The results of these types of studies are especially
important as more and more school districts – many of
them in urban areas – remove lockers from the premises,
forcing students to carry their books with them all
day long.
The problem has become so widespread, that the
California State Assembly recently passed legislation
that would force school districts to develop ways of
reducing the weight of students’ backpacks. Similar
legislation is being considered in New Jersey as well.
The ACA suggests limiting the backpack’s weight to no
more than 10 percent of the child’s body weight and
urging the use of ergonomically correct backpacks
