Watch your child’s back

> Here are some pointers for parents to help their children develop good posture and avoid unnecessary pain

above their elbow.

When sitting, their feet should be able to touch the floor. Use a footstool if they are dangling above the floor.

Invest in a suitable school bag for your children, especially if they are in primary school.

Kindergarten and secondary school students usually don’t have heavy book loads, so there is no cause of concern for them.

Our primary students have a heavy burden to bear. Pity their backs. It is not uncommon to see kids walking with their shoulders hunched forward in order to manage the load and keep their balance.

If turtles could walk upright, that’s what the children would look like.

Choose a backpack that has wide, padded straps. Narrow straps will dig into the shoulders and cause discomfort.

Avoid those that come with only one strap as this puts the load on one shoulder instead of spreading it out across two.

If the bag has several compartments, all the better to distribute the weight. Pack the heaviest items in the middle of the bag.

Adjust the straps so that the bag is positioned in the middle of the back instead of sagging low down to the bottom.

Don’t put too many books in the bag. The bag should not weigh more than 15% of the child’s weight.

Teach your children to pack according to the day’s timetable instead of bringing too many unnecessary books.

If the school provides lockers, make use of them to keep books that are not needed such as spare exercise books or textbooks which they don’t need to refer to at home.

Also be aware of this modern malady called the text neck, no thanks to the prevalent use of smartphones and other electronic gadgets.

We tend to bend our neck forward and down to look at the phone. This action, called turtling as it resembles a turtle craning its neck, exerts additional stress on the spine.

In the long run, text neck ( left) is really bad for the back. Raise the phone to eye level to avoid this malady.

Also take frequent breaks. Set alarms at intervals to remind yourselves and your children to move about.

Having good posture is beneficial to our spine and overall well-being.

Besides we don’t want our children to look like turtles or the hunchback of Notre Dame, do we?

Lydia Teh is a mother of four and author of 10 books, including the latest, How I Wrote Ten Books. Send comments to lifestyle.lydia@ thesundaily.com.