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Notes from Kids Central & ELC Australia.
These articles & links are provided by various staff of Kids Central & ELC Australia. It is what we have been reading or finding on the web about child development, learning, play & also toys. |
Get the right backpack for your child .
We’ve all seen little ones struggling on their way to school with a huge backpack. Now research reported on WebMD about kids use of backpacks has evidence that large back packs loaded with books & more may actually do damage to children’s spines.
The US study reported used MRI - magnetic resonance imaging - to look at the effects on the spine as the weight in the back pack increased. The kids had an average age of 11 and as the weight increased they showed significant compression of spinal discs, increased curvature of the lower spine and their reported pain increased.
It was found that at the heaviest load, the average pain score was nearly 5 out of 10 for the children.
This article in WebMD was based on the following research: Neuschwander, T. Spine, Jan. 1, 2010; vol 35: pp 83-88.
A couple of points to remember when buying a backpack for even the littlest kids
- Make sure your kids backpack is suitable for their size
- Has the backpack got straps wide enough to put the weight evenly across their shoulders
- Encourage them from a young age to use both straps rather than just slinging it over one shoulder.