Carrying Heavy Backpacks is Unhealthy for Children

Heavy school backpacks have been a concern for many years now. Health issues such as muscle pain, fatigue, or soreness are among the most common problems for children. Even medical experts say that children and younger adults complain of aches and pains – all due to heavy backpacks.

These health issues can be caused by many factors but ultimately, it depends on the age and size of the child, muscle strength, weight of the backpack, and more.

Since they’re just children, their bones are not fully developed and as a result, the bones respond differently to such injuries. Of course, parents are concerned about their children’s health.

One solution for this problem would be to invest in a better backpack that’s specifically made to suit different age and sizes. For example, scooter luggage can work perfectly for children that have a lot to carry. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes to not only fit children’s proportions but also make them more appealing to use.

According to a study in India, 60.6% of male students and 65.7% of female students have reported musculoskeletal pain such as in the neck, back, or shoulders. All of these pains are attributed to the weight of heavy backpacks and the duration of carrying them.

Additionally, the experts have also mentioned increases in the lumbar spinal as the children were exhausted by carrying heavy backpacks. These spinal curvatures can become worse, especially during the progress into adulthood, if children are to carry such heavy backpacks.

In terms of children’s growth, however, this might not have such a huge effect since the long bones and their growth can endure stress or heavy load better than the spine. This is not to say that they’re prone to injuries, it’s just that they don’t stop the process of growth.

Ideally, the maximum load for a children’s backpack should not exceed 10% of body weight because that would make children consume more energy and when they lean forward, the lungs’ volume decreases. These two factors result in other health issues such as breathing difficulties and at some point, even fatigue.

Another solution would be for schools to provide lockers so that children don’t have to carry heavy backpacks daily. As a result of this, most children always complain about the number of books they have to carry, although not all of those books get used.

The Education Ministry has been getting a lot of backlash about this. “For instance, why would physical education class need a textbook and activity book when it is not even an obligatory subject that affects their academics?” one of the parents asked.

However, heavy backpacks have been a huge concern for many years now but there is a lot to be done in regards to this. The news has been reporting about this issue since 1980, that’s how long it has been going on.

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