School bags a recipe for health problems

Chandigarh, Oct 15 (UNI) School bags have become a recipe for life-long health concerns and back pain.

Carrying heavy bags has become a part of school life. Most school-age children carry backpacks that weigh 10 per cent 20 per cent of their body weight. Do you know the weight put in, inside those bags? It ranges from 4.5 to 9 kgs.

In a recent medical study, it was determined that low back pain was responsible for approximately 23 per cent of most school absenteeism. It seems that many of the same health issues that initiate low back pain in adults, such as poor posture, misalignment of vertebrae, trauma, emotional stress and sports injuries, have the same effect on children.

These facts were today revealed to school children by Prof Sanjay Wadhwa, Head of the department of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Orthotics-prosthetics of PGI here on the eve of World Spine Day. This year's theme on the occasion is 'Talk To Children On Bone and Joints'.

Pupils are expected to haul around large amounts of books, coursework and sporting equipment every day Dr Wadhwa said during the interaction.

''We have advanced in every walk of life, have minimised the amount of work, we have more comforts and facilities than our forefathers, we give more amenities to our children than we got, but a school going child today carries more weight than we carried in our childhood'', he said.

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