Backpack and Pain in the Back

Source: Wellcommons.com

I live down the street from a private school and regularly see young boys and girls carrying backpacks of gargantuan size. I don't recall having a backpack that big as a schoolboy.


Fortuitously, I came across this recent article in Archives of Disease in Children on my daily review of medical titles.


In an analysis of 1403 children,  61 % were carrying backpacks that exceeded 10% of their body weight. This was significantly associated with back pain but not back pathology. The long term effects of heavy backpacks is not known, however, I suspect that it is not significant.


Assuming that the packs are filled with books, perhaps as the use of i-Pads and e-readers proliferate, the heavy textbooks will take a digital format and lighten the load.


As for me, I will pass on the backpack, and opt for the over-the-shoulder 'man bag'.