Back to school means buying backpacks

Back to school means buying backpacks

We’re getting close to what some parents will refer to as, “ the most wonderful time of the year”, when our kids return to school. Back to school invariably also means back to school shopping, and often at the top of the list is a new backpack.

Back to school means buying backpacks

For some this will be their first back pack and for others a replacement for the holey, tattered mess that barely survived the year.

Here are some tips for buying, packing and wearing a backpack.

What to buy:   Several things to consider here, size, fit and features.

If your child is a kindergartner, the back pack should be roughly the same size as their back, so a considerably smaller backpack than the one your teen needs. Look for padded shoulder straps that can be adjusted to fit snug to their back, and internal pockets. Lighter materials are better such as nylon or canvas.

Older students, can have a larger bag, look for reinforced bottoms, padded backs, internal laptop sleeves, straps at the waist and chest will help to lessen the load on the back.

How to pack the bag:

This is important because the recommendation for those children under 10 years is that they carry no more than 10% of their body mass, that includes the weight of the bag itself! Older kids can have up to 15% of their body weight in the backpack, think about that for a minute, a 200 pound teenage boy should still only carry 30 pounds in their backpack! Check your child’s bag many high schoolers will have twice that, not good for a growing spine. A lot of this weight can be reduced by limiting a lot of junk from the bag, also bringing home and to class only what you need. Sometimes provisions can be made for students to have 2 sets of textbooks one for school and one for home if they’re having pain associated with carrying heavy textbooks back and forth from school.

Pack the bag with the heaviest items at the back closest to the body and use the pockets to distribute the load.

Wearing the bag:

Wear the bag with both straps, even though it’s cool not to, adjust the straps so they’re snug keeping the bag close to the body, not hanging way back and low like a teen boy’s pants.

As always if your child experiences any back pain, give me a call and we can assess the problem for any concerns.

For blogs on other topics, go to https://yourpickeringchiropractors.ca

How To Pick The Right Backpack For Your Child’s Back

We are approaching what some parents term, “ the most wonderful time of the year”, when the kids go back to school.

With this however is back to school shopping for paper, binders, pencil crayons and the inevitable backpack.

For some, the kindergartners this is their first one, the first time in their life they need to carry something.

For others, the tweens and teens it is fashion, popularity it needs to be this years “it” bag.

In all cases it is a bag to carry stuff to and from and around school and given that they will wear it for 10 months of the year it needs to work, it needs to fit and when you check some of the prices it needs to last.

Some simple rules of thumb, weight for the younger kids the kindergartners, the bag and its contents should not weigh more than 10% of their weight, for the older kids not more than 15%. Weigh the bag from time to time and go through it to edit accumulated junk.

The size of the bag should be proportional to the size of the child’s back, thus a teen’s bag is too big for a first grader.

Bags should have 2 well padded and adjustable straps, no messenger bags, ideally there will be some padding on the back of the bag that is in contact with the body and there are straps to fasten in the front either at the chest or the waist or both, and they should be encouraged to be used. The bag should be worn on both shoulders, and snug enough so that only a hand’s breadth can be slipped between the bag and the child’s back.

The bag should be loaded so that heavier items are closest to the body, and lighter or bulkier items to the front. Some bags have compression straps to tighten the load in the bag to keep it tighter to the body.

Lastly for younger children put the bag over both shoulders for them or have them place the bag on a table so they can put it on without stooping. Older kids remind them that if they want to be able to play their sports or participate in their extra-curricular activities, little things like not using the right muscles to pick up their bag might mean the difference between watching their team and playing with them.

To review:

  1. Pick an appropriate sized bag, made of good materials and have adjustable straps.
  2. Not more than 10-15% of the child’s body weight should be in the bag
  3. Load it properly
  4. Put it on properly

If your children are complaining of back pain after returning to school, drop in to the office I’m sure we can help. Contact us at https://yourpickeringchiropractors.ca 905-831-3939, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+