Backpack Safety Awareness Month

Backpack Safety Awareness Month

Your spine is made of 33 bones called vertebrae, and between the vertebrae are disks that act as natural shock absorbers. When you place a heavy backpack filled with books, binders and gym clothes, the stress can pull you backwards, which causes you to arch your back unnaturally and compress your spine. Research shows that up to 60% of children will experience back pain by the time they are 18 years old.

The maximum weight of a loaded backpack should not exceed 15 % of the child’s body weight and it is shown that 55% of students carry more than this national guideline. 66% of school nurses in the US reported seeing students with pain or injury attributed to improperly carrying their backpacks. Back Pack Safety Month brings together parents, chiropractors and doctors in an effort to ensure that children and teens don’t do serious harm to their back, shoulders and nerves to their arms by improperly wearing their backpack.

Tips For Back Pack Safety:

• Pick the right backpack that fits your child’s size and strength. If they can’t stand up straight, then they may be carrying too much weight.
   
• Encourage them to always use both shoulder straps.
   
• Remind your child to take their backpack off when standing for a long period of time to decrease the pressure on their spine.
   
• Watch that your children do not fall into the trap of selecting the trendy backpack over the right backpack for them. What is appropriate for an adult, is probably not the right one for a child in school.

With all of the things that parents have to worry about, a backpack may be far down the list of priorities.
However, it is an easy task to ensure that when purchasing a new backpack, the correct one is selected in order
to minimize the risk of damage to our growing children.

 

 

Check out our blog!!!   http://capeanndss.blogspot.com/

 

Carla King

Foster Parent Recruiter

Department of Children and Families (formerly known as Dept Social Services)

Cape Ann Area Office

45 Congress Street, bldg #4

Salem, MA 01970

978-825-3862   direct DCF ext 33862