By: Jana L. Davidson, Education Content Specialist for the Progressive Agriculture Foundation & President of Clearfield County Safe Kids
As summer comes to an end, many parents have started the preparations to get their children back to school ready.
New clothes, shoes and school supplies, including backpacks, are always among the list of must haves.
Unfortunately, after the school year kicks-off, backpacks come home most nights packed full and difficult for youngsters to carry.
According to the National Safety Council, backpacks that are too heavy can cause a lot of problems for kids, including back pain, shoulder pain and poor posture.
If you’ve been concerned about the effects that extra weight might have on your child’s still-growing body, your instincts are correct.
You may have noticed your child struggling to put it on, bending forward while carrying it, or complaining of tingling or numbness.
The good news is that there are things you can do to help prevent injury.
While it’s common these days to see children carrying as much as a quarter of their body weight, the American Chiropractic Association recommends a backpack weigh no more than 10 percent of a child’s weight.
Here are six tips to consider when selecting a backpack:
- Choose a backpack with an ergonomic design. Although a roomy backpack may seem like a good idea, the more space there is to fill, the more likely your child will fill it. Make sure your child uses both straps when carrying the backpack. Using one strap shifts the weight to one side and causes muscle pain and posture problems.
- Select the correct size. A backpack should never be wider or longer than your child’s torso and never hanging more than four inches below the waist.
- Look for backpacks with padded back and shoulder straps.
- Hip and chest belts can help transfer some of the weight to the hips and torso and multiple compartments to better distribute the weight. Compression straps on the sides or bottom will help to stabilize the contents.
- Reflective material on backpacks will help provide extra safety if your child walks to and from school and will help them be seen more clearly.
- Rolling backpacks should only be used if completely necessary and if your child has physical limitations. Rolling backpacks tend to clutter school corridors, replacing a potential back injury hazard with a tripping hazard.
This safety message was brought to you by Clearfield County Safe Kids. The Clearfield County Safe Kids coalition is part of Safe Kids Worldwide (http://www.safekids.org/), a global organization dedicated to preventing injuries in children, the number one killer of kids in the United States.
For more information, please contact Judy Patterson, Nutrition-Safety Advisor for Cen-Clear, at 814-342-5678, Ext. 2264.
The coalition always welcomes new members and traditionally meets the last week each month at 12 p.m. at Cen-Clear Child Services, 60 Industrial Park Rd., Clearfield, PA 16830.
Donations to our local Clearfield County Safe Kids Coalition are tax-deductible and can help ensure the word about safe practices can be spread all year long.
Clearfield County Safe Kids is a co-sponsor of Clearfield County’s Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® held each September, Cen-Clear’s Safety Expo held each October, summer Bike Safety Rodeos and various other safety events throughout the county.
