School Bag Packs and Associated Problems among School Going Children

Abstract

Objective The objective of this study was to assess school backpacks and associated problems across school going children aged 8–12 years in Lahore, Pakistan. Self-perceived pain related to bag pack use, correlation between self-reported pain and perceived weight of bag pack, duration of bag pack carriage and the method of bag pack carriage were evaluated. Methodology A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 3500 students from different private schools across Lahore. Both male and female students from the age of 8–12 years that were present on the day of the study with no apparent physical deformity or any musculoskeletal disorder were included in the study. Questionnaire used in this study was a modified questionnaire from a previous study.Data collected through questionnaire was coded into SPSS version 18.Data was represented in the form of graphs, tables, cross tabs and bar charts. Chi square test of association was applied with p value<0.05 considered as significant. Results The results indicate that 82% of students surveyed carry bag packs, 54.66% of the students perceived the weight of their bag pack heavy, 40.22% medium while only 5.12% reported their bag pack lightly weighed. Pain was higher in individuals who perceived their bag pack weight heavy (i. e., 48%) pain, who carried their bag pack for over 20 min (44%) pain and over 30 min (56%) pain, respectively. Similarly percentage of pain was higher in individuals who carried their bag pack at one shoulder (i. e., 74%) pain. Conclusion The results of the present study show that there is a relationship between bag pack use, duration and method of bag pack carriage this suggests that heavy, medium and light bag packs may have damaging effects for the school going children. A study to compare children who follow and that do not follow the recommended guidelines should be conducted to find out the guidelines could help reduce back pain, the bag pack guidelines have addressed bag pack weight and duration of carriage should be considered.

Biomechanical comparison of sagittal vertebral column bend change induced by backpacks in school-aged children and adolescents: Systematic review and network meta-analysis

“…Consequently, parents and healthcare professionals must pay attention to the weight of backpacks, given their diverse impacts on spinal health under various loading conditions. Furthermore, there is a continuous rise in the prevalence of pain associated with spinal deformities [15]. The increasing occurrence of neck pain, forward tilt, rounded shoulders, and even lumbar vertebral damage due to overweight backpacks [16,17].…”

Effect of Load Carriage Lifestyle on Kinematics and Kinetics of Gait

“…Previous studies showed that load carriage affects walking posture and gait and may even cause trunk bending and spinal asymmetry [ 2 , 3 ], leading to an increased incidence of lower extremity injuries, and even back pain [ 4 ]. Therefore, experts have suggested that the backpacks worn by elementary and growing students should not be too heavy [ 5 ], with one study stating that it should not exceed 15% of the body weight [ 6 ]. The habitual use of backpacks has become fairly common in the daily life of people of many professions, including office workers, students, and the elderly, all of whom can be seen walking or running with a backpack.…”