Heavy book bags are bad for children’s health
In a first, a team from the Colombo Medical Faculty proves bio-mechanical effect of load on Grade 6 & 7 students
Schoolchildren, especially those in the growth stage at 11 and 12 years old, are facing a major health hazard. The heavy book bags under which they are stooping like beasts of burden are impacting on their health.
The evidence is on the table. No longer is it what we see or assume and the researchers who conducted this crucial study have written to the Education Ministry of their findings, hoping that urgent measures will be taken to reduce this burden immediately, in turn, preventing this health hazard.
The study has been conducted by Professor in Paediatric Neurology Dr. Jithangi Wanigasinghe of the Department of Paediatrics and Lecturers in Physiotherapy Chamali Wickramasinghe, Cinthuja Pathmanathan & Wageesha Wijesiriwardana and Chulani Truxy of the Department of Allied Health Sciences, all from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.
“The stack of thick books that children, particularly adolescents, have to take every day to school is having an adverse impact on their developing spine, causing stress on it,” reiterates Dr. Wanigasinghe, lamenting that it does not seem to be getting the attention and redress it needs from the authorities even though this issue has been highlighted before.
She asks: Why is no one concerned about this vital segment of our population?
Ms. Wickramasinghe, meanwhile, points out that their study demonstrated the bio-mechanical effect of carrying such a heavy load. This was something which had not been proven up to now.
The study titled ‘The effect of school bag weight on musculoskeletal complications in schoolchildren from Colombo’ has been conducted among 214 students (101 boys and 113 girls) in the age-group 10-15 years from four national schools. Picked from 41 schools through random sampling, the four were a mixed school, two girls’ schools and a boys’ school.
Having followed the required protocols including securing ethical approval and authorization from all concerned such as consent from the parents and assent from the children, the study team had fanned out to these four schools and set about taking the relevant measurements which included the body weight of the children and the bag weight that they were carrying.
They had also distributed a questionnaire among the participants which gave them an insight into the distance the children carried their bags, their perceived pain and pain sites as well as what treatment they had sought for their pain.
Dr. Wanigasinghe focuses on images that we see every day on the roads before and after school times. While the different types of bags include backpacks/double-strap bags, single-strap bags, sports bags and hand-held/dragging bags, a majority of schoolchildren carry their ‘educational loads’ mostly in backpacks.
“These don’t have proper workplace ergonomics and are loaded with books and supplies for the whole day. The longterm effect on the body due to heavy backpacks has not been studied much. However, the repetitive stress of carrying heavy school bags may contribute to the high prevalence of complications in the musculoskeletal system among schoolchildren,” she says.
Getting down to technicalities, Ms. Wickramasinghe explains that they measured the ‘Ranges of Movement’ (ROM) in the neck region in these children with and without school bags using a bubble inclinometer. They also analysed some postural angles – such as the cranio-horizontal angle (CHA), the cranio-vertebral angle (CVA) and the sagittal (relating to the line between the bones of the skull) shoulder posture (SP) – photographically, using the MB-Ruler (the triangular screen ruler version 5.3).
Spinal curves had also been measured using the flexi-curve ruler which helped to analyse the type of curvature of the spine. The variables linked to measurements with and without the school bags had been compared using the paired sample t-test in the SPSS version 21, she says.
The Sunday Times understands that ROM measurements included forward bending, backward bending, side bending and rotation of the neck.
Dr. Wanigasinghe points out that studies have shown that the maximal loads recommended for adult backpack carriers varied from 25%-40% of the body weight. However, children and adolescents experience a period of accelerated growth and development in skeletal and soft tissues where the structures were markedly different from adults.
“The recommended weight limit for backpacks in children and adolescents has been identified as 10% of the body weight due to different reasons. If it is more than 10%, the heavy weight affects lung function and breathing in children and also the posture which tends to stoop. Some studies have revealed that with a bag-weight greater than 10%, there is a considerable effect on cardio-respiratory endurance and various body angles, she adds.