Backpacks can = bad backs
Posted Sep 3, 2010 05:33:15 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Buying a backpack that can hold all those new back to school supplies is not as simple as it may seem. The Ontario Kinesiology Association is calling on parents to make buying a proper backpack to hold all that stuff a top priority.
“While different styles of backpacks are gaining popularity, such as one shoulder messenger bags, the traditional two shoulder backpack is still the best way to decrease a child’s risk of developing back pain,” Mike Dickin, president of the Ontario Kinesiology Association, tells 570 News.
Dickin says a poor-fitting or improperly worn backpack can cause us to lean to one side under the weight, forcing us to make adjustments so we can continue to stand upright. This, in turn, leads to spinal misalignments or muscle imbalances because one side of the body develops extra muscle to hold the body up under the added load.
Dickin recommends a ratio of backpack-to-bodyweight that does not exceed 15 per cent. For example, a 50 pound child should not be carrying a backpack weighing any more than 7.5 pounds.
“What we want to see is a child having a backpack that has two padded straps and then a belt that goes around the waist,” says Dickin in describing the ideal backpack. “This helps to offload some of the weight of the backpack onto the hips rather than the shoulders.”
And it’s not a problem exclusive to young students. Even older, athletic students can create longterm problems by carrying an unbalanced bag for too long.
Dickin recommends a series of exercises that are designed to keep the core strong as a way of offsetting the dangers. But he insists proper fit and form is the only true fix as even fit people will eventually feel the effects of not carrying a backpack or messenger-style bag properly.
And when it comes to style, we might have to sacrifice that for the good of our health.
“One of the things that we do at back to school time is get very caught up in the marketing and the advertising and what’s in fashion,” Dickin notes. “While that is important, it’s equally important that people take a step back and look at the bag and look at the ergonomics of the bag and make sure that it’s not set up in such a way that it’s going to cause more problems in the long run.”
The Ontario Kinesiology Association says the right backpack will help avoid spinal disk compression and curvature.
