Originally published December 18 2005
Researchers advise parents to lighten the burden children carry in their backpacks
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Brandon Macias and Alan Hargens, PhD, of the University of California at San Diego, have studied children's backpacks and concluded that parents need to help their children lighten the load they carry, which could cut off circulation to the shoulder muscles if it is too heavy.
So say researchers who watched 10 healthy children don backpacks of different weights.
Still, sensors showed that the weight produced pressure that could cut blood flow to the shoulder muscles.
"We recommend that backpack loads be minimized to promote comfort and safety," write Brandon Macias and Alan Hargens, PhD, of the University of California at San Diego.
Their report appears in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
It's hard to pinpoint a pound limit for kids' backpacks.
Average backpack loads reportedly equal 22% of a child's body weight, according to the study.
They note that most students worldwide carry backpacks and that it's not unusual for kids to complain of shoulder pain and back pain.
The study included five boys and five girls who were about 13 years old and routinely wore backpacks.
First, the students wore an empty backpack.
Each backpack was placed in the same position over both shoulders and collarbones.
Next, the kids wore backpack loads equaling 10%, 20%, and 30% of their body weight.
As the weight increased, so did the shoulder pressure.
The kids also rated any pain they felt on a 10-point scale, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst imaginable pain.
The kids' pain ratings rose along with backpack weight, peaking just below four points.
Pressure on either shoulder for all three loads reached levels that could restrict blood flow to shoulder muscles, the study shows.
That's probably due to posture, which wasn't studied, the researchers write.
Children typically carry backpacks for 30-60 minutes per day, write Macias and colleagues.
They note that while concern about kids' backpacks isn't new, the sensors add objective information supporting light backpack loads.
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