Health Problems in Schoolchildren Due to Backpacks: A Cross Sectional Study in Two Schools of a Town in North Karnataka
Keywords:
School children, backpacks, health problems, painAbstract
Background: It is a common sight to see school children carrying a schoolbag on their backs that are too heavy for their body frames. Carrying heavy backpacks causes heavy load on the developing spine resulting in postural problems, back pain and discomfort.
Objectives: The study was conducted to measure the schoolbag weight and its percentage to the bodyweight of schoolchildren and to study the health problems in schoolchildren due to heavy backpacks and factors influencing it.
Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out in two schools for a period of two months among children studying in 7th to 10th standard. Children filled a pretested questionnaire and were weighed with and without schoolbag. Data was entered in MS Excel and analysed using Epi info7.
Results: Out of 277 children 132 belonged to CBSE and 145to state syllabus, 68.6% children were carrying heavy backpacks.52.7% children complained of pain; majority had pain in leg, shoulder and back. CBSE students and those carrying loaded backpacks reported more pain.
Conclusion: Children need to be taught packing bag the right way to avoid health problems.
References
Rai A, Agarwal S. Assessing the Effect of Postural Discomfort on School Going Children Due to Heavy Backpacks. J Ergonomics 2014, S4:011
Aundhakar CD, Bahatkar KU, Padiyar MS, Jeswani DH, Colaco S. Back pain in children associated with backpacks. Indian J Pain 2015;29:29-31.
Rai A, Agarawal S. Back Problems Due To Heavy Backpacks in School Children. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) May-June 2013; 10( 6): 22-26
American Occupational Therapy Association. How heavy is your backpack? Available from https://www.aota. org/PublicationsNews/ForTheMedia/PressReleases/2017/091917-BackpackDay.aspx(accessed on 28/08/2017)
Rice V, DeVilbliss C, Bazley C. An Educational exercise on backpacks for school Children: including children, faculty and parents. Available from http://www.childergo.com/ backpackergonomics.pdf(accessed on 28/08/2017)
Jacobson BH1, Oney B, Redus B, Edgley B, Kulling F, Gemmell HA. Comparison of perceived backpack comfort using two rating scales. Percept Mot Skills 2004 Aug;99(1):171-8.
Hong Y, Cheung CK.Gait and posture responses to backpack load during level walkingin children. Gait and Posture 2003; 17:28-33.
Skaggs DL, Early SD, D'Ambra RN, Tolo VT, Kay RM. Back Pain and Backpacks in School Children. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics May-June 2006; 26(3):358-363
Farhood H.F. Low back pain in schoolchildren: the role of school bag weight and carrying way. Journal of Natural Sciences Research 2013;3(8)
Spiteri K, Busuttil ML, Aquilina S, Gauci D, Camilleri E ,Grech V. Schoolbags and back pain in children between 8 and 13 years: a national study. British Journal of Pain 2017; 11(2):81–86
Brackley HM, Stevenson JM. Are children's backpack weight limits enough? A critical review of the relevant literature.Spine (Phila Pa 1976) October 2004;29(19):2184-90.
Walicka-Cupryś K, Skalska-Izdebska R, Rachwał M, Truszczyńska A. Influence of the Weight of a School Backpack on Spinal Curvature in the Sagittal Plane of Seven-Year-Old Children. BioMed Research International. 2015;2015:817913.
Abbass SJ, Abd-ul-Amir DQ. Effects of Backpack Loads on Kids Posture. Al-Nahrain Journal for Engineering Sciences (NJES) 2017;20(4):876-886
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The authors retain the copyright of their article, with first publication rights granted to Medsci Publications.
