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Backpack Misuse Leads to
Back Problems
More groups are warning about children
carrying backpacks. In two February 2001 stories by the Associated
Press and PRNewswire, health groups are coming out about the dangers of
overweight backpacks being carried by children. Some of the groups who
have issued warnings include, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Physical Therapy Association, the American Chiropractic
Association and the International Chiropractors Association.
Some school districts have even begun to address this
problem. The Wayland, Mass., public school system has
distributed extra copies of some textbooks to middle school students so
they don't have to carry as many books between school and home. A
recent study conducted in Italy found that the average child carries a
backpack that would be the equivalent of a 39-pound burden for a 176-pound
man, or a 29- pound load for a 132-pound woman. Additionally,
preliminary results of studies being conducted in France show that the
longer a child wears a backpack, the longer it takes for a curvature or
deformity of the spine to correct itself.
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