What you should known when choosing a school bag for your child
When your child starts school, the choice of which school bag to use is more important than you think.
POLOKWANE – Your child’s school bag stays with your child from morning to afternoon and is the holdall for carrying school essentials, books and a lunch pack. A poor quality school bag loaded with heavy books will likely cause complications to your child’s spine over time.
Some schools have prescribed school bags, others leave the learners to choose their own bags. Children associate their bags to some extent with their identity at school; many of them prefer ‘cool’ schoolbags that highlight their interests and personality. As easy as it is to gravitate towards buying the backpack of your child’s dreams, it’s also important that parents make an informed decision.
Studies, one published in The Journal of Orthopaedics, showed the majority of a sample of 3 500 learners who participated reported some kind of back pain related to the weight of their school bags.
What should you keep in mind when choosing a good school bag for your child? Aesthetics or one that won’t damage their back and cause them pain? What are the signs of back damage or injury you need to look out for in your child? How do you treat a child with a back injury caused by a heavy schoolbag?
A poorly fitted school bag can result in uneven weight distribution and excessive contact pressures in the wrong areas. Excessive contact pressures may well throw the child off balance and result in a scoliosis or a similar type of back condition.
Elizabeth Manning, a local physiotherapist, said this often causes the children to compensate by countering the uneven load which then results in increased strain on their spines and core muscles. More health issues caused by a too heavy school bag include rounding of the shoulders and distortion to the natural curves in the lower and middle backs. This may cause muscle pain and irritation to the rib cage and spine joints. A heavy backpack can also pull on the neck muscles, contributing to headache, shoulder pain, lower back pain, and neck and arm pain.
More back and spine issues may arise if your child’s tendency is to carry their backpack on just one shoulder. Medical experts claim this causes an uneven weight on your child’s body, causing them to strain their muscles while carrying this weight. What happens when only one shoulder is used to carry a heavy backpack is that the spine twists to the opposite side which stresses the middle back, ribs and lower back more on one side of the body than the other. Short-terms issues arising from this imbalance may be muscle spasm, strain and back pain. In the longer term, if not corrected, it could result in serious back problems.
How do you know if your child’s school bag is too heavy and what should you keep in mind when choosing a school bag for your child?
• Parents should watch out for an unbalanced or uneven gait, excessive hunching of the spine while carrying the bag, pain during or after carrying the school bag. Any one or a combination of these signs could be an indication that you child’s school bag is too heavy. If you notice any of these signs, adjust or change your child’s schoolbag (see tips below) or speak to a doctor for advice.
• With some simple adjustments to your child’s school bag, you can help ease some of the issues that arise due to a poorly fitted or heavy backpack. A poorly fitted school bag can usually be adjusted such that the load is evenly balanced between the shoulders and the heaviest items are toward the bottom of the bag. This will keep the bag’s centre of gravity closer to the child’s centre of gravity, allowing them to carry the bag and move more easily. Take out materials and books not needed for specific classes for that day.
What to look out for when choosing a good school bag for your child:
• The most comfortable school bags are the haversack (backpack) types rather than the shoulder sling or hand strap types. A backpack allows more weight to be carried (if needed) more comfortably.
• Choose a bag with proper padding of the shoulder straps and at the base of the bag where it sits against the spine. The shoulder straps should be wide and when the bag is put on, it should sit firmly against your child’s body and not tilt down. It is vital that the child use both straps on the bag and not hang the bag over one shoulder only.
• Chest and waist straps can be useful if the bag is heavy.
• Sizing depends on the length of the spine. Generally, the length of the bag against the spine should be between half to the same length as the spine. The bottom of the bag should sit above the waistline.
• Choose a wheeler bag for your pre-schooler as they lack the strength to carry heavy bags.
• When lifting backpacks, teach your child how to bend at the knees and pick it up, while minimising twisting to put on the backpack.
• Teach your child to always pack the heavier books toward the bottom of the bag in order to bring the centre of gravity lower. This helps in balance and eases the load on the shoulders.
• Check your child’s backpack often to make sure they are not taking unnecessary items to school. Teach them how to be organised and sort out what they need to take to school every evening.
• Encourage your child to check if the straps of the bag need readjusting every time they wear it. The contents children carry in the bag will change daily and so will the weight, therefore, this adjustment is necessary.
• If your child’s backpack appears to be too heavy on certain days (watch them to see if they struggle when putting the bag on), have them carry some of the books in their arms.
• The maximum weight a school bag should be is dependent on your child’s age. Ideally, the maximum weight of a fully loaded backpack should not be more than 10% to 20% of your child’s body weight.
• Finally, if your child is experiencing recurring back pain, see a health professional without delay. Remember to take your child’s backpack with you to ascertain if this is the cause of the problem.
