School: Backpacks are too heavy. What to do?

Every year, with the return to school, a problem arises that affects millions of students: excessive weight of backpacks.

According to experts, backpacks and bags can put your back at risk of our children considering that theor backpack carried by children should not weigh more than 15% of their body weight, a thesis also strongly supported by Andrea Bernetti, vice president of the Italian Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (SIMFER).

Excessive weight, according to some studies, could alter posture and the profile of the spine, with important effects on walking and balance. This does not mean that carrying a backpack that is too heavy automatically leads to the development of a pathology, but it increases the risks for the health of the back.

How can we intervene to solve the problem?

The simplest way would be  leave some books at school, placing lockers in classrooms or corridors, as in the Anglo-Saxon school model. Some schools, from middle school onwards, have school materials digitized, thus reducing the quantity of books.

For smaller children it is preferable to buy backpacks equipped with a trolley or with the semi-rigid backrest, with wide and well-adjusted shoulder straps so as not to crush the shoulders too much.