Schools are being urged to consider the weight their students are obliged to carry given that a rucksack or backpack with 10lbs of weight will exert 72 pounds of force onto a student’s spine.
A research paper co-authored by spinal and orthopedic surgeon Dr Kenneth Hansraj and published in the journal Surgical Technology International found that the compression force on the spine was 7.2 times the weight of the backpack.
Furthermore, when the spine is tilted forward 20 degrees – common in those with already poor posture – the compression force is 11.6 times that of the backpack.
According to the paper, experts have traditionally recommended that the weight of backpacks do not exceed 10 per cent of the body weight of the carrier.
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