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标题：DON'T BE A CHARLIE
作者：EMMA-LOUISE JOHNSON
期刊名称：Sunday Mirror
印刷版ISSN：0956-8077
出版年度：2000
卷号：Aug 20, 2000
出版社：Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd.

DON'T BE A CHARLIE

EMMA-LOUISE JOHNSON

SHE has inspired millions to reach for their gardening tools with her hit TV shows.

But now green-fingered Charlie Dimmock has health experts worried.

It's not the Ground Force presenter's bold front that's grabbing their attention - it's her back.

They are worried that the way she bends over could take her fans away from the flowerbeds and into their sick beds...with back problems.

Jane Puzey, a spokeswoman for the National Back Pain Association, said: "Ground Force is a wonderful example of how NOT to do things if you want to avoid back pain.

"I wince when I see Charlie and the other team members bent double to pick up a heavy plant or bag of cement. They don't realise the enormous strain put on the back by lifting in the wrong way."

She added: "A lot of people watch this programme and the presenters are setting a bad example."

Back injuries are Britain's leading cause of disability, affecting 1.1 million people. They cause more than 119 million working days to be lost each year, costing firms almost pounds 4billion.

The association said it wrote to the BBC offering free advice to the Ground Force team, but was snubbed by the producers.

Ms Puzey explained: "We offered to train the presenters in safe manual handling, but had no reply. We really want to help the Ground Force team change their lifting techniques. It could save all the weekend gardeners out there from years of back pain misery."

A BBC spokeswoman denied the show's producers were being irresponsible.

"Ground Force are equally concerned about back pain and they have dealt with the issue on the show," she said.

"All the presenters take care to make people aware of the correct way to lift heavy objects."

She claimed the programme had no record of a letter from the National Back Pain Association, but added: "We apologise if they did write to offer a manual handling course.

"The programme receives a lot of mail - and not every letter can be dealt with."