PACK IT LIGHT; WEAR IT RIGHT

By Paula J. McGarvey for The Montana Standard - 10/04/2005

Fifth-grader Bradley Hanson gets a tip on proper backpack positioning from physical therapy assistant Betty Kujawa at a recent clinic held at Kennedy Elementary School. Students learned that backpacks shouldn't weigh more than 15 percent of their body weight. Lisa Hornstein / The Montana Standard

Are your kids buckling under a heavy homework load? In addition to complaining about brain-strain, an overweight or impro-perly worn backpack might be adding back and neck pain to your child's list of back-to-school gripes.

"More than 7,000 emergency room visits nationwide in 2001 were related to backpacks or book bags," said Nancy Clark, an occupational therapist with Rehabilitation Services at St. James Healthcare.

Clark and coworker Betty Kujawa, a physical therapy assistant at St. James, recently visited elementary schools in Butte to present a backpack clinic to fifth- and sixth-graders. Clark said the program was adapted from an American Occupational Therapy Association campaign being conducted nationally in conjunction with LL Bean.

"The motto is ‘Pack it Light, Wear it Right,'" said Clark At a recent backpack clinic at Kennedy Elementary, Clark and Kujawa offered tips to students designed to help them to manage their increasing academic load as they move into middle school and high school.

"A lot of times we see injuries from wearing backpacks incorrectly," said Kujawa.

Clark said signs of backpack strain include neck pain, shoulder pain, low back pain, tingling of the arms and hands and chronic headaches starting at the back of the neck.

"The standard is that a two-strap backpack should weigh no more than 15 percent of the student's body weight," said Clark.

With a one-strap book bag or messenger bag, Clark said that load should be reduced to 7 percent of the student' body weight. Kujawa advised that with one-strap bags, students should alternate shoulders to and from school to even out the load.

"Put your heaviest books closest to your back," suggests Clark. Lighter items such as coats or jackets should be placed near the front or top of the pack.

Proper positioning also plays a key role in backpack comfort and function.

"They're backpacks, not butt-packs," said Clark, encouraging students to hoist them higher.

"You want it to ride right at the top of your hips," said Clark.

During the clinic, Clark and Kujawa weighed students and backpacks and helped make several adjustments.

Sixth-grade student Brittany Hanson learned that her pack was well within the recommended 15 percent limit for her 72-pound frame.

"It weighed six pounds," said the 11-year-old. Hanson said she also discovered that she was wearing her pack too loosely.

Hanson's brother Bradley, 10, found that he was wearing his backpack incorrectly. "The strap was down too low," he said. Bradley's eight-pound backpack was within acceptable limits for the 95-pound fifth-grader.

Despite all the strapped options, the best alternative for back and neck health turned out to be not carrying a backpack at all.

"The best backpack is the backpack on wheels," said Kujawa, although she noted some elementary schools ban wheeled backpacks because they don't fit in student's lockers.

For more information about backpacks, visit the American Occupational Therapy Association on-line at www.aota.org or call the Rehabilitation Services Department at St. James Healthcare at 723-2540.