“I remember leaving the office and thinking, ‘That was not great.’”
We’ve talked about checking what’s in your kids’ backpacks, but what about weighing them?
It might sound unnecessary, but one Florida pediatrician — Gabriella Dauer — is encouraging parents to make it a habit as children return to school for another year of lugging around heavy backpacks.
According to Dauer, a heavy backpack could result in unwanted back pain in kids.
“So, we need to talk about backpacks,” she said in a TikTok video published on Aug. 21. “Kids with large, heavy backpacks can develop muscle strains (and) pains.”
@oncallpeds Large heavy backpacks can cause significant pain and muscle strains for your little ones. Watch the video for my rules on burning and using a backpack! 🎒
♬ original sound - oncallpeds
While she says “significant back pain” requires further evaluation, Dauer went on to share a few of her best “backpack rules” to help avoid the inevitable when walking around with a backpack.
For example, she’s a huge believer in wide, thick shoulder straps with a chest or belly clip to help distribute the weight of the backpack evenly across the back.
“They shouldn’t be wider than a child’s back or hang below their waist,” she said of kids’ backpacks.
She also wants parents to encourage kids to use both shoulder straps when wearing the backpack.
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“They’ll usually put it one one (shoulder) and it’ll cause unilateral shoulder strain and back strain on that one side,” she said in the clip.
Another pro tip: buy a backpack with multiple compartments and place the heaviest items towards the back “so it’s closest to the body” and limit the weight of the backpack to 10-15% of the kids’ body weight.
Her recommendation echoes a recommendation laid out by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which found that following the 10% rule is more effective at reducing back pain in kids.
Other tips to reduce strain from wearing heavy backpacks
According to research in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, lower back pain “is already prevalent at 14 years,” including 30% of adolescent girls and 26% of adolescent boys.
And heavy backpacks only heighten a student’s risk of developing back pain early in life.
While the “tips and strategies” laid out by Dauer are designed to limit back pain in kids, there’s plenty more parents (and students) can do to prevent developing or worsening this strain.
For example, students should tighten the straps so the backpack fits snug to their body.
The backpack should sit “high on your child's back with the top of the pack about even with the shoulder blades,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Backpacks with padded straps and padded back support can also help reduce muscle strain.
Other tips to prevent back pain in kids include:
- Backpacks shouldn’t hang more than a few inches below the waist
- When lifting a backpack, bend at the knees and use your legs to lift
- Consider purchasing a backpack on wheels
- To reduce excess weight, consider purchasing extra sets of books for home use
- Clean out the backpack regularly to remove unnecessary items
- Encourage the use of a school locker as much as necessary
- Replace worn-out backpacks that have lost their padding
- Teach proper posture while wearing the backpack
In the event that your child experiences back pain after a long day at school, a good night’s rest goes a long way, according to Children’s orthopedist Sajith Azerf, MD, MPH.
“The symptoms should resolve on their own after a period of rest. Just be sure to adapt your child’s backpack habits to prevent future pain and strain,” Azerf says, per the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
As for back pain that lingers, Dauer recommends seeking a professional’s opinion immediately.
“Significant back pain — which, for example, wakes up a child from sleep — is a red flag ... and should be evaluated by a doctor,” she said in an interview with Today.
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“That’s different from a bit of back pain or muscle strain after a long day of carrying a backpack,” she added.
