From the ArcaMax Publishing, Features Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/features/s-29408-185336
For parents of students beginning the new school year, sending them
back to school may be sending their backs into a lifetime of pain and
health problems.
The problem, according to Dr. Marvin T. Arnsdorff, co-founder of the
Charleston, SC-based Backpack Safety America, is the overloaded and
improperly carried backpacks shouldered by thousands of school
children as they trudge their way to and from school.
"Youngsters are lurched forward like peasants," Dr. Arnsdorff said.
"Some of these children are carrying nearly 40 pounds of books and
other things in their packs."
The purpose of Backpack Safety America is to call attention to a
problem "that is only going to get worse unless we correct it in the
children’s early school years," Dr. Arnsdorff said.
How widespread is the problem? New research reveals an alarming danger
associated with childhood backpack use. By the end of their teen
years, for example, more than half of youths experience at least one
low back pain episode (Spine 1998; 23:228-34). According to the
research, this increase may be due, at least in part, to the improper
use of backpacks.
The Consumer Products Safety Commission estimates that 4,928 emergency
room visits each year result from injuries related to book bags and
back carriers. These can lead into longer-term problems, as evidenced
by a recent scientific experiment which found that carrying a backpack
alters the mobility of the spine and leads to restricted movement, a
risk factor for back pain (Surg Radiol Anat. 1999; 21: 109-13).
One study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the effects
of backpacks on the fluid-filled cushions between the bones of the
spine. Researchers concluded that backpacks alter the fluid content,
making the wearer of the backpack a prime candidate for disorders such
as herniated ("slipped") disc and osteoarthritis later in life (Spine
1999; 24:1316-21).
But you don’t need to be a scientist to understand the effect of
backpacks on young spines; watch children in any schoolyard struggle
to walk while bent sideways under the weight of an overloaded backpack
on one shoulder. You’ll quickly realize the potential danger of this
commonplace item.
Is it time to get rid of the backpacks? "The backpack itself is not
the cause of this epidemic of back problems among students," said Dr.
Arnsdorff. "The primary cause stems from improper packing, lifting and
carrying by children wearing and using the packs."
Dr. Arnsdorff offers Backpack Safety America to address the problem.
The program contains an 8-minute backpack safety video and packet of
backpack safety posters. Participating health care professionals
present the program to local schools free of charge as educational
tools.
"Our goal," Dr. Arnsdorff said, "is to help educate children at an
early age to do everyday activities in biomechanically correct ways so
they don’t end up with spinal or repetitive stress injuries later in
life."
A certified injury prevention specialist, Dr. Arnsdorff likens the
spinal column damage some children have suffered because of the
misused backpacks to industrial accidents. "We need to do the same
thing in the schools that we do in the factories, warehouses, and
offices and that’s have a comprehensive educational program that
brings together all the different elements of potential risks and
solutions. The fact is that a workforce educated on injury prevention
is less likely to be injured on the job."
"We feel the same attention should be given preventive techniques for
reducing back injuries that is given dental care, for example," Dr.
Arnsdorff said. "There’s really no early intervention for spinal
problems."
Dr. Arnsdorff said the typical backpack "might contain textbooks,
binders, calculators, personal computers, lunch boxes, a change of
clothing, sports equipment, cosmetics, yo-yos, electronic games and
more."
Borrow a child’s calculator and do the math. If a child carries a
backpack weighing just 12 pounds (a very conservative figure for most
students) and lifts it 10 times per day for a 180-day school year, he
or she will have lifted and carried 21,600 pounds. That’s nearly 11
tons a child will lift and carry in the course of one school year, the
equivalent of six mid-sized automobiles.
"Common sense tells us that a heavy load, distributed improperly or
unevenly, day after day, is indeed going to cause stress to a growing
spinal column," Dr. Arnsdorff said. "The old adage ‘as the twig is
bent, so grows the tree’ comes to mind. I am seeing a growing
concern about the improper use of backpacks and the relatively scarce
amount of instructional and preventative information available to
young people."
There has been growing discussion by some members of the
Virginia-based International Chiropractors Association of the increase
in adolescent back pain, according to Molly Rangnath, deputy executive
director of the association’s Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics.
She said the group’s members have been increasingly talking about
those (backpack-related) kinds of injuries. "It’s not unlike the
same problem we see in women who carry heavy purses on one shoulder.
There will be problems because of this."
"Right now there’s nobody saying that it’s cool and smart to carry
a backpack correctly," Dr. Arnsdorff said. "We need to tell children
at a very early age that it’s cool and smart to take care of
themselves. It could eliminate a lot of pain and grief later in life.
Billions of dollars in workers compensation are lost every year due to
back, neck and repetitive stress injuries. Most of those are because
of bad habits learned in childhood, habits than can be prevented by
education at an early age."
Dr. Arnsdorff offers the following basic backpack safety tips:
o Make sure the backpack is sturdy and appropriately sized. Some
manufacturers offer special child-sized versions for children ages 5
to 10. These packs weigh less than a pound and have shorter back
lengths and widths so they do not slip around on the back.
o Consider more than looks when choosing a backpack. An ill-fitting
pack can cause back pain, muscle strain or nerve impingement. You want
to have padded shoulder straps to avoid pressure on the nerves around
the armpits. Some backpacks have waist straps designed to stabilize
the load. These should be used whenever possible.
o The proper maximum weight for loaded backpacks should not exceed 15
percent of the child’s body weight. For example, an 80-pound child
should not carry more than 12 pounds in a pack. If the pack forces the
carrier to bend forward, it is overloaded.
o In loading, it is obvious that excessive backpack weight can cause
problems. Prioritizing the pack's content is very important. Avoid
loading unnecessary items. It is important to balance the weight of
the contents or the body will shift into unnatural postures to
compensate.
o Often ignored is the act of lifting and positioning the backpack.
Lifting 20 pounds improperly can cause damage. Follow these simple
steps: 1) Face the backpack before you lift it. 2) Bend at the knees.
3) Using both hands, check the weight of the pack. 4) Lift with your
legs, not your back. 5) Carefully put one should strap on at a time;
never sling the pack onto one shoulder.
o Use both shoulder straps. Make them snug but not too tight.
Carrying the backpack on one shoulder, while fashionable, can cause
long term neck, shoulder, back and postural problems. Use the
stabilizing strap around the waist.
© 2005 Body Mechanics, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more information on Backpack Safety America/International, visit
www.backpacksafe.com or call 1-800-672-4277.