Yes, it's that time of year again. Back to school!
With the ongoing integration of tech into schools, more and more kids are utilizing tablets and computers for their education. However, it seems like those textbooks still make their appearance, causing a heavy, overweight backpack getting dragged home by your child on a daily basis.
While you might not thing twice about your childs backpack past what kind of shape it is in, overweight and ill fitting backpacks are one of the leading causes of back pain in kids.
An average backpack can weight about 15lbs when full of what most children take to and from school. Notebooks, binders, pencil boxes, books, textbooks, lunch bags and more all get crammed into that pouch on their backs.
Why does this matter? Over time, this can cause stress in the tissue of your child, leading to back pain, rounded shoulders and changes in their posture.
As the weight of a backpack increases, kids will typically begin to lean further forward to compensate for the weight. Also, most backpacks aren't fitted well or worn correctly. Because cool kids only use one strap...not two.
How can you protect your child from possible back pain? Once your child has picked a bag based on cool factor, check out the straps. Are they wide? Padded? Make sure they also aren't too big for your child. Compartments are also great as they can help distribute the load. Teach your child how to spread out the heavy things, and also how to wear the bag properly. Both straps, not too low on the back.
If your child does report to you that they have pain, numbness, tingling or weakness at all, give a chiropractor a call so they can assesses and give you a game plan to keep your kid happy, healthy and ready to learn!