Jeffery Mjaanes, MD, an adult and pediatric sports medicine physician at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago, said that backpacks should be no more than 10-20 percent of the child's body weight, according to an article published in the Chicago Tribune.
Dr. Mjaanes sees up to five adolescent patients per day with back pain and says that backpacks are a major factor in causing the pain. However, there are no studies currently linking adolescent back pain to heavy backpacks. Carrying heavy backpacks can also cause shoulder pain, he said in the report.
Read the Chicago Tribune report on heavy backpacks.
Read other coverage on from Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush physicians:
- Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush Physician: Hip Impingement Not Career-Ending for Athletes
- Midwest Orthopaedics Physician Shares Trends in Bicep Injury Treatment
- Chicago's Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush Physicians Give Free Foot Screenings
Dr. Mjaanes sees up to five adolescent patients per day with back pain and says that backpacks are a major factor in causing the pain. However, there are no studies currently linking adolescent back pain to heavy backpacks. Carrying heavy backpacks can also cause shoulder pain, he said in the report.
Read the Chicago Tribune report on heavy backpacks.
Read other coverage on from Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush physicians:
- Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush Physician: Hip Impingement Not Career-Ending for Athletes
- Midwest Orthopaedics Physician Shares Trends in Bicep Injury Treatment
- Chicago's Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush Physicians Give Free Foot Screenings