A prospective 1-year study on load reduction of school backpacks shows reversible changes of body posture in schoolchildren
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Julia J. Grannemann
Abstract
Background
The impact of backpack carrying on body postural changes in schoolchildren has been discussed intensively. However, findings are inconsistent mainly due to the lack of long-term results.
Objective
The purpose of this investigation was to study the influence of backpack weight on body posture and prevalence of back pain.
Methods
In our prospective, comparative study, we investigated the influence of backpack weight on 77 schoolchildren (average age 10.8 ± 0.7 years) over a 1-year period. Participants were evaluated at the beginning of the study by clinical examination and formal static posture analysis. Forty-nine students comprised the control group while 28 students in the intervention cohort had the weight of their backpacks reduced by 2 kg. All students were reevaluated after 6 and 12 months by formal postural examination.
Results
Children with reduced backpack weights had a significantly improved bending posture when wearing their backpacks when compared to the participants of the control group, whereas the analysis of the children while they did not wear their backpacks revealed no difference between the groups. Within the follow-up period all postural changes were reversible once the backpack weight was removed.
Conclusions
Schoolchildren with heavy backpack loads show postural changes while carrying their backpack but this impact was reversible when backpacks were removed. Continuous reduction of backpack loads minimizes prevalence of back pain.
Declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Consent for publication: Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.
Availability of data and material: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding: No funding was received for this study.
Authors’ contributions: JJG, SJ, SB, JL and AKH designed the study and acquired the data. Data analysis and interpretation was performed by all authors. JJG, SJ, JL, LB, AKH did the statistical analysis. JJG, JL, LB and AKH contributed to the manuscript drafting. All authors revised the manuscript critically and approved the final manuscript.
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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- Review
- Literature review: nutritional factors influencing academic achievement in school age children
- Original Articles
- Appointed by young people – a qualitative study on young patients recruiting hospital staff in Denmark
- Child labor and mental health status of in-school adolescents in a municipal local government area of Lagos state, Nigeria
- Usefulness of hematological parameters for differential diagnosis of endometriomas in adolescents/young adults and older women
- Assessment of the WHO Health Promoting Schools Framework among schools in selected villages of rural Puducherry, South India – a mixed method study
- The development and psychometric evaluation of a new instrument to market healthy breakfast and snacks among adolescents
- Awareness of bicycle light use of young adults
- A brief study on the knowledge and choice of contraception methods in married adolescent girls
- Coverage of and compliance to iron supplementation under the National Iron Plus Initiative among reproductive age-group women in urban Puducherry – a cross-sectional study
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- Prevalence and determinants of poor quality of sleep among adolescents in rural Puducherry, South India
- Health awareness, lifestyle and dietary behavior of university students in the northeast part of Bangladesh
- The effectiveness of group counseling on prenatal care knowledge and performance of pregnant adolescents in a Kurdish region of Iran
- High adenovirus 36 seroprevalence among a population of Hispanic American youth
- Development and psychometric properties of the female adolescents’ sexual reproductive self-care scale
- “Decide Now, Buy Marlboro”: Examining the influence and appeal of Marlboro’s new brand architecture among Filipino adolescents
- Knowledge, attitude and practice of cigarette smoking among senior secondary school students in Depok, Indonesia
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- A prospective 1-year study on load reduction of school backpacks shows reversible changes of body posture in schoolchildren
- Level, motivation and barriers to participate in physical activity among late adolescents in Puducherry
- A pilot study to improve sugar and water consumption in Maltese school children
- Deep venous thrombosis of lower limbs in adolescents: a study in a tertiary hospital
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