It’s that time of year again!
Personally speaking, next week is just another week for me and Tuesday will be just another Tuesday, but for countless number of people Tuesday will be back to school. That means children will be lugging around their backpacks to school and parents don’t have to come up with activities for their children to do during the day.
This week is when parents will be looking for where they stashed their children’s backpacks from last year, or give up on looking and just buying a new one. Here are some tips on what you should look for in a backpack to ensure a healthy spine in your children.
1. Weight of the backpack
Ensure the bag and its contents are only 10-15% of your child’s weight. When you think about it, that’s not that much. If your child is only 100lbs, ensure their bag is only 10-15lbs. That means take out anything that is not needed that specific day at school.
2. Use both straps
When I went to school, I thought it was really cool to only use one strap…well it’s not cool what it does to your spine. Ensure your children use both straps (if it is a messenger bag, make sure that they sling the bag across their chest). When only one strap is used, the neck, shoulders and back have to compensate and this can eventually lead to spinal problems.
3. Ensure the straps are thick and padded
Really thin straps can dig into your children’s shoulders which can cause obstruction to the blood vessels and nerves in the area and cause symptoms down the arm. Those draw string bags may look cool, but definitely not practical for school.
4. Customization
Backpacks with the ability to loosen and tighten the straps help you carry the bag closer to the back which will help ease stresses on the spine.
These are very simple tips to help your children ease the stresses on their spine from an improperly worn backpack. It is much easier to prevent problems and raise healthy children, rather than try to fix problems when they are older.
If you have any questions and how we can help you and your children attain optimal health through chiropractic, massage therapy or yoga please call us at 905.389.6336 or email us at info@DrAshor.com
