The Tyranny of Heavy Backpacks – The Health Problems and the Solution

Heavy backpacks are one of the major problems for kids in schools today. Little kids have to drag around huge bags filled with bulky books, while teenagers just need a book or two to get through with their day. 90% of children say that back pain due to heavy bags was “bad” or “very bad” for them[1].See the problem?

These kids don’t have the strength to carry such bags and end up developing severe back problems. In this post, we’ll be discussing the problems that may rise due to heavy backpacks and follow it up with a completely natural solution. But, before we jump into the main subject, let’s talk a minor detour to talk about which backpacks qualify as a heavy one.

What Should Be the Size of Your Kid’s Backpack?

Basically, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that the recommended weight should be less than 10% of the child’s own weight while the maximum amount is 20%. This means that if your child weighs 40 kg, ideally, their backpack should be 4 kg, but it could go on to 5 kg. But, anything above that means that you’re putting your child at risk of severe chronic pain at their current age and later in life as well.

What Health Problems Could Rise Because of Heavy Backpacks?

There are a variety of different problems, here’s just a few of them.

• Kids that wear backpacks over a single shoulder, mainly because they think they look cool, are putting all that extra weight on just one arm. This makes that side lean more as compared to the other one and put themselves at a risk of straining their shoulder and neck.
• Heavier backpacks will lead to bad posture. If your kid is wearing a backpack for even 15 minutes each day, they could potentially harm their spine and misalign their posture.
• Backpacks with tight and small straps dig into your shoulders. While this may seem like something that doesn’t do more than create mere irritation, it could interfere with circulation and put unnecessary pressure on the nerves.
• Other than the direct effects, a big backpack could injure your child indirectly too. For example, they could trip because of heavier bags while passing through narrow places like the aisle of a school bus.
• Heavy backpacks can greatly affect a person’s balance. And, if your kid is put off balance, they will probably have to live with that impairment.

This is just a tip of the iceberg. If we carried on, we’d probably find a couple dozen stuff that goes wrong when a little kid carries around an enormous backpack. This probably emphasizes the importance of making your child’s bag lighter. Here’s a few things you could do to achieve your goal.

• Advice your kids to wear both straps.
• Use thick padding on the bags.
• Ensure even distribution of weight.
• Changing to a rolling backpack.
• Teach your kid to put the backpack at a higher surface to easily wear/remove it.
• Secure the straps. A simple sewing machine will do the job just fine.
• Make sure that the bag isn’t loose. Don’t let it lie below the lower back.
• Keep a close eye on the kid’s daily lessons and only let them carry books that they will need that day. Try your best to eliminate all the unnecessary weight.
• Teach your child to organize the backpack in such a way that the heaviest books are at the very back so the weight doesn’t pull your kid backwards.
• A chest belt will secure the bag and will make the content feel lighter.

But, if you already notice signs of improper postures and several of the other effects listed above, don’t worry. There’s a really easy to solution to ensure that the effects don’t last for very long. And, the answers you’re looking for is something called chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Care for Kids

Yes, chiropractic care is also useful for kids. You might have seen seniors visiting chiropractors to improve their movement, but some kids also need this care to prevent future problems. There are chiropractors specially trained to treat kids, so don’t worry about the therapy hurting your kid instead of helping him.

What Can Chiropractic Care Do For My Kid?

It’s pretty straightforward, if your kid has a misaligned posture, or pretty much any problem because of a heavy backpack, a chiropractor will be able to fix them. You won’t just be getting rid of your child’s pains, you’ll be improving their quality of life. And, if you continue with chiropractic care throughout their life, you’ll be automatically making them healthier for when they step into the later parts of their life. Just to sum up the conversation, here’s all you need to know about how chiropractic care can improve your kid’s life.

• Concentration: Is your child having trouble concentrating? The most probable reason is their bag interfering with the nervous system in the neck region. This impairs a person’s ability to concentrate and in the near future, this condition will be diagnosed as a case of ADHD. Chiropractic care paired with a healthy diet can repair this issue.
• Proper Growth: Early structural and postural problems can cause lasting problems such as scoliosis. The structural issues damages the nerves in such a way that the body can’t grow normally, leading to stunted or heightened growth. Appropriate care will heal the child’s impaired structure and allow them to grow as nature intended for them to.
• Sleep: Most kids struggle with sleeping problems. But, do you realize that sleeping problems are actually a reaction of your body to the stress on your nervous system? By relieving some of that stress through chiropractic, your child will actually have a much regular sleeping pattern.

Closing Thoughts

At the end, we’d like to say that even if your child isn’t showing a symptom per se, that doesn’t mean they won’t benefit from chiropractic care. Chiropractors are actually a proactive solution that’ll knock down a huge amount of the problems before they even have a chance to develop. Just book a few sessions for your child, we guarantee they’ll feel better immediately.

[1] https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/news/20040813/heavy-backpacks-can-hurt-student-backs