Although it seems impossible it's already that time of year... I'm seeing mountains of pens, highlighters, folders, and backpacks lining up the entrance shelves of my local general store. The munchkins are already on week 2 of the great school year !

Parents may be tempted to skip over this blog entry because we've become numb to the fact that backpacks can be a problem. We really shouldn't be. There's so much at stake for long-term spinal health and stability that will be irreversible if we don't pay attention to it at this stage. The research article below from 2018 took some interesting measurements that actually quantify the mechanical stress load on the developing spine. The results are not encouraging. However picking a backpack with the right features and occasionally dropping it on the scale before letting you munchkin out of the door can help you mitigate the worst of the problem.

Here is a bit of basic math that illustrates the extent of the problem. According to the authors of the article, the multiplication factor of the weight of the backpack on the actual spinal structure such as a developing disc is anywhere between seven and 11. In plain English, if you have a backpack of 10 pounds, the actual load on the spine is anywhere between 70 and 110 pounds, and a backpack of 20 pounds anywhere from 120 to 220lbs. This is really quite astounding but explains why so many kids will come home saying they're sore everywhere in their back and shoulders. This is even more of a problem if your child has to walk any distances with their backpacks, either from classroom to classroom, walking to and from school, and to and from the school bus.

You only have two real decent strategies to mitigate the issues: first select a backpack that has good padding, wide padded shoulder straps, a waist strap, and all adjustable straps in the waist band, shoulder straps, and possible chest strap. Arguably you will probably get some pushback from you kid about the look they want versus the functionality you want as a parent. Second, grab your kids backpack every so often when they come home from school and put it on your home scale. Wait until a couple months into the school year to do that because the amount of things they have to carry will change, and you'll have a more authentic idea of how much they're hauling around by the time activities and sports roll around. When you start seeing numbers that amount to the same weight as your child, it is time to ruthlessly review which contents get to stay and which ones get to go. Also remember to reach out to the teachers and share your conundrum. Some will be willing to be practical and adjust their homework to tasks that do not involve the dragging of larger textbooks home

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30204924/