It's that time of the year again. Time to start getting your kids ready for school. That means buying supplies and something to carry them in, usually a backpack.
How can you can make sure you get the right kind for your kids?
That backpack they use might be causing more pain than you think. Nowadays, kids are lugging more and more supplies back and forth to school. One popular way is with a backpack. Unfortunately, that same pack might be the main reason up to half of teens 15-16 years old complain of back pain.
Most doctors and physical therapists recommend a backpack weigh no more than 15% of a student’s body weight. That means it shouldn’t weigh more than 15lbs for a 100 pound person. And even if someone weighs more, the pack still shouldn't be more than 20 pounds.
But besides making sure it doesn’t weigh too much, there are other things that can help keep it comfortable.
Make sure it has 2 wide, padded shoulder straps and that both straps are always used. And teach them to stand up straight when using a pack. If they’re leaning forward or hunching over, it probably weighs too much.
And try and convince them to not carry anything they don't need, just bring home the necessities.
Encourage your kids to let you know if they have any back pain, or if they get numbness or tingling in their arms. That's a sign of a heavy pack, or one not used correctly.
The key here is to make sure their homework doesn’t turn into a bigger pain then they already think it is.
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