What to look for in a School Bag?
Our kids’ spines are developing and looking after them during this time is important. It is therefore imperative to make sure when kids are carrying things on their backs, that they are doing so with minimal stress on the spine.
A good school bag has the following features:
- Back support in the back of the bag allows the bag to keep its shape and take pressure off the spine.
- Lightweight – a school bag should weigh no more than 15% of your child’s body weight. That means for a 30kg child, the school bag loaded with school books and lunch should not weigh more than 4.5kg.
- Adjustable shoulder straps, so that the school bag can be kept close to your child’s back. Padded straps prevent the bag from digging into their shoulders.
- Backpacks with hip and chest straps, which help distribute the weight inside the backpack and reduce pressure on the back.
- A backpack with multiple compartments allows you to distribute the weight inside the backpack more evenly.
It is important when your child wears a backpack to:
- Have both shoulder straps over their shoulders and adjust the straps so the bag is evenly distributing weight against the child’s back. Wearing a backpack on one shoulder causes the child to lean to one side.
- Adjust chest and hip straps so that the bag is firmly on the child’s back.
- Pack the heaviest items closer to the back of the bag and the lightest to the front.
Danielle is happy for you to bring your child’s backpack in and help fit it correctly to them.
Are they wearing shoes properly?
When wearing lace-up shoes, it is important to undo them when taking them off. This ensures you don’t stretch the shoes and lose the support in the shoes. When tying your shoes, you should always make sure that they are tied firmly so that your shoe does not move in the shoe when you are walking.
What to look for when buying lace-up shoes?
- A good lace-up shoe should have support in the heel – when you press on the heel it should not flex down to the sole of the shoe.
- The shoe should not be able to bend upon itself
- The shoe should not be able to rotate
When you have found a pair of shoes it is always a good idea to look at your Achilles tendon position and if it is in a neutral position when wearing the shoes. If there is rotation or tilt in your Achilles tendon the shoe is not suitable.
Please feel free to speak to Danielle if you have any questions.
How should their computer be set up?
- CHAIR – should be height adjustable and have lumbar support (preferably adjustable) for your lower spine. The back of your knee should not be touching the chair.
- FOOTREST – allow your hips to be kept at 90 degrees to your body.
- ARMS – your elbow should be comfortable sitting close to your body, with your wrists kept having minimal bend while typing on the keyboard.
- MONITOR – should be at arm’s length away from your body with the top of the monitor level or just below level with your eyes. Your screen should be free of glare and be able to pivot and tilt as required.
Preventing ‘Text Neck’?
The human head weighs approximately 4.5-5kg which is 8% of our total body weight. Your cervical spine supports this weight and houses your brain stem as it exits from your skull and part of your spinal cord. The ideal shape of your cervical spine is a C-shape. This allows us to carry the weight of our heads without much effort and to be able to look straight ahead. For every 2.5cm of forward head carriage, you increase the weight of your head on your spine by 4.5kg.
When we are using a phone or device, we have forward head carriage which increases the weight of our head on our shoulders. In turn, our shoulders roll forward which compresses our nerves as they pass from our neck into our arms. This forward head posture and rolled shoulders can cause many symptoms including headaches, shoulder dysfunction, symptoms in our arms and generalised neck tension. Over the long term, you can begin to have changes to the biomechanical functioning of your cervical spine, which can be like what is seen after a whiplash injury.
What we need to do:
- Lift the device to be up level with your eyes rather than looking down at it.
- Limit the time we spend on our phones and devices.
- Stretch our shoulders and necks.
- Be mindful of our posture and how we are holding ourselves.
