Heavy Load

One of the big parts of returning to school is packing your school bag again. But physiotherapists are warning that many kids are carrying too much around with them which could lead to problems down the track. So how much should you be carrying on your back? Carl unzipped the answers.

How much heavy stuff have you got crammed into your school bag?

KID: I have a sticky tape dispenser in case someone needs tape. I have a giant dictionary and a laptop.

CARL: Alright so you must feel like you’re carrying around a pretty heavy bag?

KID: Yeah, I think so.

CARL: Does it hurt?

KID: Sometimes!

In fact physiotherapists reckon too much weight or the wrong backpack can cause some big problems for your back and neck.

So what can you do to protect yourself from these back-to-school aches and pains?

CARL: Ok so Yi, you're a physiotherapist which means you’re all about taking care of our backs and keeping them out of trouble. I'm guessing the first thing we're going to do is pick the coolest one with the best colour right?

YI, PHYSIOTHERAPIST: No. Look the important things to look for in your backpack is you want to make sure they have wide shoulder straps so it doesn't dig into your shoulders, and make sure it has nice padding on the back of your backpack as well.

CARL: Ok Yi, so we've talked about picking the right pack, the next thing is how to wear it? We've got Raoul here, our bag model extraordinaire today, and he's wearing it on one shoulder, is that ok?

YI: No that's not the best way to wear the bag, the best way to wear the bag is to wear both straps on both shoulders at the same time, so we’ll just pop that shoulder on so this will help to distribute the weight more evenly so that you’re not lopsided and put too much pressure on one shoulder. Secondly the backpack is looking pretty saggy at the moment, so we want to make sure the ideal height for the backpack is that the bottom sits above your bottom and make sure it’s not too high so that when you look up towards the ceiling your head doesn’t hit the backpack as well. And one other thing we need to remember is pack the heavier stuff closer to the body to help distribute the weight better.

CARL: Ok Yi so even if you’ve got the right bag and you’ve strapped it up right and you’re standing up straight, some of these bags still look really heavy! I mean Alessandro here looks like he's carrying the weight of the world on his back. So how heavy is too heavy?

YI: Yeah look this is way too heavy for Alessandro, the rule of thumb is that you don't carry more than 10% of your body weight in the bag.

CARL: So 10%, what's the average weight of maybe a year 6 student then?

YI: I would say between 35 kilos to 45 kilos.

CARL: And then 10% of that would be 3.5 to 4.5 kilos.

YI: Wow the bag is over 8 kilos, so yes definitely is too heavy for Alessandro.

CARL: So what about taking some of this stuff out then. He has a whole lot of stuff in here. Alessandro, have you just filled this with bricks or something? We could take some of this stuff out then. Alright.

YI: So Alessandro’s bag just weighs 3 kilos now which is perfect for him. So what I would recommend that he do is hold one thing in one hand and the others in the other hand to balance out the weight a bit more evenly.

CARL: So that's Alessandro fixed up. But, what did the rest of the class learn about their bags?

KID: Well what I found really interesting was the heavier stuff should go closer to your body.

KID: I should take some things out of my bag and put it equally in both hands.

KID: Don't wear it on one shoulder, wear it on two.

KID: That my straps should probably be a bit wider and also that I should probably have a waist strap as well.

• Carl Smith | Reporter
• Heavy school bags can cause kids back and neck pain, physiotherapist warns: ABC News | weblink
• Health and Safety Factsheet: Heavy School Bags: Education Queensland | pdf
• Avoiding injuries from school bags and computers: NSW Education | weblink
• Back pain in children: Betterhealth Channel | weblink
• Posture Problem: Behind the News | history
• Australia | Map
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