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Is a backpack injuring your child?<br />
Many kids experience pain caused by<br />
overloaded or improperly used backpacks.<br />
Here are 5 safety tips from an expert:<br />
JERRY CARINO<br />
"Most of the problems we see are<br />
caused by posture changes — kids<br />
bending forward or leaning to one side.<br />
You really want to make sure that both<br />
straps are on. Sometimes the kids want<br />
to be cool and whip it over one side. But<br />
when both straps are on and evenly<br />
tightened, it sits better against<br />
a student's upper back."<br />
Raymond Howard<br />
regional director of rehab services<br />
Each weekday morning, millions of<br />
kids strap on backpacks before they<br />
head to school. Is this ritual putting<br />
your child at risk for injury?<br />
"We see that a lot," Raymond Howard<br />
said.<br />
Howard is regional director of rehab<br />
services for two RWJBarnabas Health<br />
facilities: Community Medical Center<br />
in Toms River, New Jersey, and<br />
Monmouth Medical Center Southern<br />
Campus in Lakewood. Each fall he sees<br />
a dozen or more students with shoulder,<br />
back and neck pain, and sometimes<br />
headaches, caused by overloaded or<br />
improperly used backpacks.<br />
Those ages 10-12 are the most<br />
vulnerable, Howard said, because the<br />
textbooks are getting bigger but their<br />
bodies remain underdeveloped.<br />
"It's one of those things people don't<br />
really think about," Howard said, "but<br />
once you have a kid with an injury like<br />
this you realize, it's something you<br />
really can avoid."<br />
To coincide with National School<br />
Backpack Awareness Day (Sept. 20),<br />
Howard offers five tips for staying<br />
healthy:<br />
1. Find an appropriate backpack<br />
"You really want one that has pads in<br />
the back, on the shoulders and in the<br />
under-arm regions, so it's more<br />
comfortable and takes away the<br />
pressure," Howard said. "They should<br />
have hip and chest belts. That helps to<br />
transfer some of the weight from the<br />
back and shoulders to the hips and<br />
torso."<br />
He also recommends backpacks<br />
with several compartments, which<br />
allows for a less concentrated<br />
distribution of items, and one with<br />
reflective material — especially for<br />
kids who walk to school or a bus stop<br />
before the sun rises.<br />
2. Know the weight guideline.<br />
"As a rule, the (fully packed)<br />
backpack should weigh no more than 15<br />
percent of the child's body weight,"<br />
Howard said.<br />
For a 50-pound student, for example,<br />
that means a backpack and contents<br />
weighing less than eight pounds.<br />
Howards said his daughter Kailee,<br />
who walks to Lacey High School,<br />
carries only books the books she<br />
absolutely needs for a given day. If a<br />
text is particularly weighty, consider<br />
purchasing a second version so there is<br />
one at home and one at school, negating<br />
the need for transport.<br />
3. Load the backpack carefully<br />
"Try to get the heaviest items closest<br />
to their back," Howard said. "So if they<br />
have big textbooks, the backpack is not<br />
hanging far away from the back and<br />
causing posture problems."<br />
4. Carry the backpack properly<br />
"Most of the problems we see are<br />
caused by posture changes — kids<br />
bending forward or leaning to one side,"<br />
Howard said. "You really want to make<br />
sure that both straps are on. Sometimes<br />
the kids want to be cool and whip it<br />
over one side. But when both straps are<br />
on and evenly tightened, it sits better<br />
against a student's upper back."<br />
For younger students, he said,<br />
parents should guard against winching<br />
the straps too tight. He's seen cases<br />
where that caused numbness or<br />
tingling in the arms.<br />
5. Be aware of problem signs<br />
"Always look for changes in their<br />
body posture," Howard said. "If you<br />
have a kid with great posture and they<br />
put the backpack on and it looks like<br />
they're walking up Mount Everest with<br />
a week's worth of supplies, that's a<br />
problem."<br />
Posture problems, he said, often are<br />
followed by pain.<br />
"Changes in posture can lead to neck<br />
pain, back pain and sometimes even<br />
headaches," Howard said. "You're going<br />
to get some red marks from a<br />
backpack, but if there are excessive<br />
red marks or bruising, it's way too<br />
heavy."<br />
Jerry Carino is a staff writer for the<br />
Asbury Park Press. Contact him at:<br />
jcarino@gannettnj.com.<br />
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