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How heavy should a school bag weigh?

As a general rule, to prevent injury, a full backpack should weigh no more than 10 to 20 percent of your child's body weight. How a student wears a backpack is often just as important as its overall weight.



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As a general rule, to prevent injury, a full backpack should weigh no more than 10 to 20 percent of your child's body weight. How a student wears a backpack is often just as important as its overall weight.

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No matter how well-designed the backpack, less weight is always better. Use the bathroom scale to check that a pack isn't over 10% to 20% of your child's body weight. For example, a child who weighs 80 pounds shouldn't carry a backpack that weighs more than 8 to 16 pounds.

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Textbooks and school supplies, plus gym gear, electronic devices, lunches and more contribute to overloaded backpacks. In fact, about 70 percent of kids carry heavier-than-recommended backpacks, researchers reported a few years ago in the journal Applied Ergonomics.

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The longer someone carries extra weight, the worse the condition and body posture get. Over time, the person can experience pain, flexibility problems, stiffness, and reduced range of motion. This can increase one's potential for injury. It can also cause sore or stiff neck, backache, headaches, and sore shoulders.

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Use both shoulder straps. Bags that are slung over the shoulder or across the chest, or that only have one strap, may strain muscles. Tighten the straps enough for the backpack to fit closely to the body. The pack should rest evenly in the middle of the back and not sag down to the butt.

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Some school bags might need to be replaced every year, whereas others might last you a good three to four years.

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No matter how well-designed the backpack, less weight is always better. Use the bathroom scale to check that a pack isn't over 10% to 20% of your child's body weight. For example, a child who weighs 80 pounds shouldn't carry a backpack that weighs more than 8 to 16 pounds.

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Pain caused from excessive loads has gained the term “backpack syndrome.” Backpack syndrome causes headaches, neck and back pain, and fatigue. There have been studies examining the effects of carrying backpacks on one shoulder versus both shoulders. Carrying a bag on one shoulder causes significant asymmetries.

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It can cause poor posture, compressed discs in the spine, and even curvature of the spine. Straps digging into the muscles of the shoulder were also found not just to irritate the area, but to cause potential damage to the nerves of the hands and arms. These issues aren't just small problems.

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Parents are often surprised at how much their child's backpack actually weighs. As a general rule, to prevent injury, a full backpack should weigh no more than 10 to 20 percent of your child's body weight. How a student wears a backpack is often just as important as its overall weight.

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The crown prince of the time was given a backpack upon entering elementary school (at Gakushuin). To honor the soldiers of the country, the shape of the backpack resembled the backpacks used in the military. This quite immediately became the fashion, and the shape has continued to become the randoseru used today.

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The typical conventional backpacker has a base weight around 25 to 30 pounds. Conventional backpacker's total pack weight with food and water can easily exceed thirty to forty pounds.

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