Lightening the Load
September heralds a welcome return to school for all children. Despite continuing concerns about Coronavirus, children are in desperate need of the mental stimulation as well as the companionship of their friends.
No doubt you will have received guidance on new arrangements for school, but we are willing to bet that doesn't include looking after your child's back!
Many things can lead to back pain - playing sport or exercising a lot, poor posture when sitting or long periods of inactivity. However, some pain is caused by lugging around overly heavy bags.
So, what can you do to reduce this?
Use a backpack rather than shoulder or messenger bags, or a briefcase. Backpacks use the back and abdominal muscles, and are designed to spread the weight more evenly across the body.
Encourage your child to adopt a good carrying approach:
No more than 10-15% of their body weight in the pack, where possible.
Don't place the pack too high on the shoulders - this can pull the child backwards, and makes them compensate by bending forwards at the hips, or arching their back. This can cause neck, shoulder and back pain.
Don't wear it on one shoulder - they might think it looks better or is easier but this puts too much strain on one side of the body. Use both straps and make sure the backpack fits snuggly.
What constitutes a good backpack?
Lightweight - don't add unnecessary weight before they start. For instance, whilst leather might look nice it weighs far more than a canvas pack.
Wide padded shoulder straps - straps that are narrow will dig into the shoulders.
Padded back - this increases comfort, but also protects your child from being poked by sharp objects such as rulers, pencils and notebooks.
Multiple compartments - helping to distribute weight more evenly in the pack, and making things easier to find!
Waist belt - again this helps to spread the weight more evenly, but is quite a challenge to persuade them to use!
When I talked to my own children about this they reiterated the advice about avoiding a heavy backpack. They also recommended avoiding a pack that was too large giving rising to the "turtle look" - and meaning everybody in the corridors needed to dodge for fear of being hit!