It’s that time of year again. Store shelves are stocked full of back-to-school items and parents are making decisions about what to buy.
At the top of many shopping lists is a new school bag, but parents often struggle over finding the safest option for their child.
“Every September, we start to hear controversy about whether backpacks are to blame for back and neck pain in children,” says Brock University Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Michael Holmes. “To put parents’ minds at rest, recent literature suggests there is little evidence to support links between backpack use and pain.”
As a Canada Research Chair in Neuromuscular Mechanics and Ergonomics, Holmes asserts while several systematic reviews have been done, it has been difficult to link usage of backpacks to poor biomechanics and ultimately back pain or damage.
Continue reading at Brock University.
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