School year 2010: 5 Things I should know about backpacks

 
1. Size Do Matters

can't get enough of school?

With an increasing number of young-school aged children lugging around heavy textbooks to and from class each day, the number of back-related injuries on kids increases tremendously. Choosing a certain kids backpack with cool colors and a fad characters might be fun for your kids, but it should not only be the criteria. To ensure that your child is both safe and comfortable, the size of the school backpack should match your child's frame. When wearing the bags it should fit squarely over your kid's strongest back muscles.

2. The Straps

Look for a backpack with wide, padded shoulder straps that are adjustable. Similarly, your children backpacks should also have straps that buckle around his hips and waist to distribute weight more evenly between his back and shoulders. Help your children adjust the straps so that the school bags fit snugly against his mid-back. Make sure that the bags is not so tight that it leaves indentation or red marks on his skin and not so loose that it hangs below his waist.

3. Consider wheel backpacks

Backpacks with wheels may ease the strain on your child's back, but they can also be a hazard. Because the rolling bags trail behind kids as they pull them down the hallway to class, other kids can trip over them. Some of the schools may not allow the rolling bags, so it is a good idea to check with an administrator before purchasing the school bag.

4. Lighten the Load

The doctors recommend that the weights of kid's bags be no more than 20% of his total body weight. If your kid’s backpack is too heavy, teach him to carry only the books he needs and to leave the rest in the lockers and desk. If the children slumps over when he walks, that is a good indication that he needs to lighten the load. Organizing the bags with the heaviest items resting against the back can reduce back and shoulder strain.

5. Lift with the Legs

Practicing the good form can also reduce back injury, when your kids wear her bags over just one shoulder, all the weight shifts to one side. This causes greater back pain as the muscles work to compensate. If she wears his school bags on both shoulders, the weight is evenly distributed. Likewise, teach your children how to lift her bag properly. Rather than straining to the bags with her arms, she should bend at the knees, place one shoulders strap on the lift up with her legs.