Backpack Safety Awareness part 3-Backpacks May Spawn Falls

backpack2Backpacks May Spawn Falls.

Research presented at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation’s annual meeting in San Francisco exposes yet another potential danger of heavy backpacks: they promote falls in students who wear them.

Specifically, students who carried packs weighing 25% of their body weight exhibited balance problems while performing normal activities such as climbing stairs or opening doors, which in turn increases their risk of falls. In contrast, students who carried packs weighing 15% of their body weight maintained their balance moderately well. Those carrying 5% of their body weight were the most effective at maintaining balance, compared with their peers who carried more weight.

Roller Bags are Not Cure-Alls.

An empty roller bag can weigh up to 80% more than an empty backpack. Factor in that there is a tendency to add more things to a roller bag, it can end up weighing 50 pounds or more. At some point during the day, a child needs to lift that bag, and proper guidelines still should be followed.

These disturbing trends clearly show the importance of a comprehensive educational program designed to give students, parents, and teachers the guidelines necessary to prevent future spinal conditions due to improperly worn backpacks.

Backpacks are Not Just Causing Problems In The United States.

The amount of weight carried by children in their backpacks is an important issue that deserves serious consideration. To quantify how much weight children are likely to carry in their backpacks, researchers in Milan, Italy, determined the weight of all the backpacks used by sixth graders at several schools.
The average load carried daily 20.5 pounds, reaching as much as 27.5 pounds, with the maximum daily load averaging 25.3 pounds. Over one-third of students carried more than 30% of their body weight at least once during the week . . .

Be sure to check back for Next week’s Article: Backpack Safety Tips . . . or keep yourself up to date with what is going on at Belvidere Chiropractic Center by simply subscribing to Belvidere Chiropractic’s RSS Feed or to our Email Updates. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIN.

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About Dr Jon P Heins

I grew up in Linden, NJ. I graduated from Linden High School in 1989 and continued my education at Montclair State University where I received a Bachelor's Degree in Biology in 1994. I then earned my Doctorate of Chiropractic (with Honors) at Life University School of Chiropractic in Marietta, GA in 1997, while completing a Physiotherapy Certification at Brenau College in Gainesville, GA in 1996, completed the National Board of Chiropractic Examinations Parts I, II, III and PT in 1996, and was Honored in the 1996 (19th edition) and 1997 (20th edition) National Dean’s List. I then completed the New Jersey Board of Chiropractic Examination and obtained my NJ license to practice in 1998. I then held two Associate Chiropractic Physician positions at personal injury practices located in Hillside and Jersey City, NJ. Have been been qualified as an expert witness and have testified in various civil tort cases in Essex and Hudson counties, until purchasing Belvidere Chiropractic Center in 2000. I am currently an active member of the Association of NJ Chiropractor’s (ANJC) and the Association of NJ Chiropractor’s Sports Council (ANJCSC). As well as a local Adopt-a-Family Annual Toy Drive sponsor. It was as a young child that I learned about Chiropractic and how it helped with my headaches. I was four years old when I started to get headaches a couple times a week. My father took me to his Chiropractor and it helped. My father remembers me going in and coming out a different kid. I know that Chiropractic helped me, and knew then that I would help other people through Chiropractic care. I am happily married to his wife Michelle, and have a beautiful daughter, Aliyah. When I'm not in the office, I love to spend time with my family. We enjoy going traveling, hiking, swimming, spending time outside, reading, watching movies, and listening to music, and we all receive weekly chiropractic adjustments including my baby daughter.
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