A REAL PAIN IN THE BACK

Aching backs. Sore necks. Headaches.

Ask any teenager and she'll tell you that lugging a backpack around all day can be a real pain -- literally.

But what teens may not know is that, according to many chiropractors, the damaging effects of carrying a heavy backpack can be long-lasting. Students' backpacks often weigh between 15 and 30 pounds, and sometimes more. The JanSport backpack company recommends that students carry no more than 10 percent of their total body weight on their backs. A 100-pound girl with a 30-pound backpack is carrying nearly three times their recommendation. However, most students agree that it's easier to carry a heavy bag around school than it is to make a side trip to a locker between classes. And while they make an effort to pack only the most essential items, students (myself included) admit to suffering under the weight of their backpacks. I decided to take a closer look inside my backpack to see exactly what is weighing me down. Here's what I carry home from school on an ordinary day: Five-subject binder, weight 4 pounds Two-inch 3-ring binder, weight 3 pounds. One English book, weight 5 pounds. One French book, weight 3 pounds. Two history books, weight 7 pounds. One statistics book, weight 4 pounds. One vocabulary book, weight one-half pound. One biology book, weight 2 pounds. TI-83 graphing calculator, weight one-half pound. Purse, weight 2 pounds. Total weight, including the weight of my backpack: 35 pounds. Whoa. No wonder my back aches. I then decided to weigh the backpacks of 25 students in my homeroom to see if they, too, were carrying bags heavy enough to put strain on their backs. The average weight of all the backpacks was about 20 pounds. The heaviest backpack weighed 37 pounds, and the lightest weighed 11 pounds. The boys' bags tended to be heavier; however, the average girl carried about 17-20 percent of her body weight, while the average boy carried 15 percent. It is important to note that both percentage figures exceed the limit suggested by Jansport. Tiffany Lordan, a junior at LC, was not surprised to see that her backpack weighed about 20 pounds. "It usually weighs more," she said. "This year I have so many books that I carry around all day because I don't have time to go to my locker. I had to go to the doctor when I started getting sharp pain in my midback and in my neck." Megan Johnson, a student at Lewis and Clark said, "I feel like I'm lifting weights whenever I go to pick up my backpack because it weighs about 30 pounds." Nicole Radeke, an exchange student from Germany, was surprised to see American students wearing hiking backpacks at school. "They (the students) look like they're going on a vacation or something," she said. But can carrying a heavy backpack have serious, long-term effects? Michael Valente, a north Spokane chiropractor, said "yes." "What I tell people is get rid of the shoulder straps and just carry it," he said. Carry a pack in your hand. Alternating hands frequently is the best way, he said. He added that few teenagers have serious back problems, but repeatedly carrying a heavy pack may mean they have problems when they are 25 or 30 years old. Kelly Cross, an LC junior suffering from scoliosis, says that her condition is directly related to the fact that she carried a 20- pound backpack to and from elementary school. "I wear a back brace," she said, "but I can hardly carry two books in my bag without my spine or neck aching. Once I even had leg spasms from walking up the stairs carrying my heavy backpack." Kelle Hammock, a junior who has recently developed scoliosis, said carrying a backpack puts an uneven strain on her back, causing a sharp pain at the base of her spine and across her neck. Not all medical specialists agree that heavy backpacks have a harmful effect on students. In a 1995 news report, Peter Strum, vice chairman of orthopedic surgery at Children's National Medical Center in Washington said, "Backpacks have zero effect." Regardless of medical opinion, there are several steps teens can take to prevent or lessen back and neck strain caused by carrying heavy backpacks. One of the most common recommendations is wearing the backpack over both shoulders. However Valente guessed that 80 to 90 percent of people sling a backpack over their right shoulder. "I did," he admitted. Some students suggested that schools lengthen the amount of time between classes to allow more time for locker detours, while others suggested that teachers have an extra set of textbooks for classroom use so that students don't have to bring their books every day. Other suggested that teachers "lighten the load" by assigning less work.

Copyright 1998 Cowles Publishing Company
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