Overloaded school backpack can become a health hazard
By Diana Rossetti

Four-year-old Brianna Weisend was far from dithering over the full wall of backpack options at Target.

She already had zeroed in on a blue Tinkerbell, a nylon and vinyl bantamweight version of the others meant to carry a full load of schoolbooks.

And, though she's enrolled in the North Canton (Ohio) YMCA's prekindergarten, her mother said her first backpack is a kiddie necessity.

"It's small and really just a way to carry her papers home," said Stacy Weisend, who recalled her daughter's initial backpack style choices included those emblazoned with Cinderella and princess themes.

Dr. Julie Kerr, a sports medicine physician at Akron Children's Hospital, applauds the tiny backpack that simply transports papers home to mom and dad.

It is the high-school students complaining of back strain and even diagnosed with stress fractures of the spine resulting from shouldering 50- to 60-pound backpacks that gnaw at her and her colleagues.

"The heavier the backpack, the more the child is placed in a more extended position. Repeated use can lead to stress fracture in the lower levels of the spine," she explained between patient visits. "It is a hyperextended position and that repetitive position leads to a lot of stress. In a growing child, there is a higher risk for a stress fracture."

Despite the plethora of traditional backpacks with design fillips that claim to ease back strain, Kerr says the weight of the pack is what causes injuries. Even the advent of this year's popular messenger bags with straps worn across the chest has done nothing to lessen physician concerns.

"Even with the strap across the body," she explained, "if it's real heavy, then the child is unbalanced to one side." Spreading the load is one small way to reduce the possibility of injury, she acknowledged.

"If you decrease the weight to less than 10 pounds in the backpack and carry some of the books in the front of you, it will keep the spine more stabilized, more straight," Kerr said.

While progressive back strain can limit a youngster's leisure-time activities, the injury could progress to the point where a lumbar-type support brace is necessary to reduce back extension. Then, Kerr continued, once the pain is relieved, a six- to eight-week progressive therapy program to strengthen the trunk and abdominal muscles is required.

If she had her druthers, Kerr would have all students choosing book bags on wheels.

Unless and until that happens, she advises parents to inquire at their children's schools about keeping a duplicate set of textbooks at home. Some school systems, she said, will comply.

"Even an early dismissal from class would be a chance for students to drop off books at their lockers so they're not carrying them all day," she said.

Finally, if a young patient displays the need, she will write a prescription like request to the school administrator to allow the student to visit his locker between classes.

"And there have been no problems in complying," she observed.

ONE ALTERNATIVE

With more than 20,000 backpack-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms last year, a backpack with built-in protection is an option.

One such device is The LiftPack, available at retail stores and online at www.liftpack.com, which claims to alleviate back stress with a built-in air bladder technology. The user puts on the backpack, then inflates a bladder with air until the bottom of the back virtually sits on the top of the buttocks, using the body as a shelf. The bladder also cushions the back from the pack's impact with each step.