Injury

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Help your child avoid lower back pain and injury this school year — follow these simple backpack safety tips.

When fully loaded, your child’s backpack should weigh less than 15 percent of his body weight. To help your child know what this weight feels like, use your bathroom scale to measure the right backpack load.

Buy a backpack with two wide, padded straps that go over the shoulders — and
make sure your child uses both straps at all times.
Choose a backpack with a padded waist or chest belt. This distributes weight
more evenly across the body. Multiple compartments also help distribute the
weight.
Your child’s backpack should not be wider than his body.
Consider a backpack with a metal frame (like hikers use) or on wheels (like a
flight attendant’s bag). Check with your child’s school first to see if these types of
bags are allowed.
Make sure your child isn’t toting unnecessary items. Laptops, CD players and
video games can add a lot of pounds to a backpack.
Heavier items should be placed closer to the back of the backpack, next to the
body.
Picking up the backpack properly is important. As with any heavy object, your
child should bend at the knees and grab the pack with both hands when lifting it
to his shoulders.
Encourage your child to develop stronger lower back and abdominal muscles —
this will help avoid back injury. Weight training and yoga are two activities that
can help strengthen these core muscles.
About Tips Provider:
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, one of the leading pediatric healthcare systems in the
country, is pleased to offer summer tips for parents and their children. Click on the links
for more information. Children's experts are also available for interviews pertaining to
these topics, as well as additional pediatric health care issues. Please contact Children's
24-hour, 7-day-a-week media pager at 404-570-9717 to reach a public relations
representative immediately.
Children's is a not-for-profit organization that benefits from the generous philanthropic
and volunteer support of our community. Operating three hospitals with more than half a
million patient visits annually, Children’s is recognized for excellence in cancer, cardiac,
neonatal, orthopaedic and transplant services, as well as many other pediatric
specialties. Visit our Web site at www.choa.org or call 404-250-KIDS to learn more about
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

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