Every new school session bring lots of new things- new books, new accessories & ‘A New School Bag with lots of weight in it’. These days, back to school is not as easy & fun as much it sounds. Such heavy backpack takes toll on a child’s posture right from morning till evening.
That’s not it!!
If their activities keep on increasing, their backpack keeps on getting heavier & heavier & a child is not going to complain unless it is too much for him/her.
But it is our responsibility to keep a check on how they are walking, what is the weight of their bags, are they comfortable with it, do they have pains & aches anywhere.
Getting an answer for all this is really important. Change in posture does not happen in a single joint or a part of body. It happens in complete body,affecting their overall alignment.
We may not notice but there is a lot of change which occur in muscles & joints. Also too often kids don’t wear their backpacks correctly & this increases the risk of getting injured. Also, too old or worn out backpacks should not be continued because these don’t give the appropriate support required while carrying such load & may cause severe back, neck, shoulder pain.
It is very important that even slightest of body pains are taken seriously. Following precautions should be taken:
- They should be taught proper posture.
- Should remain active.
- Can perform simple stretches in between their classes.
- They should have a backpack with padded straps.
- Should not hang backpack on one shoulder, weight should be equally divided on both the shoulders.
- They should not carry extra items to school. Should pack wisely.
- Should clean their backpacks more often.