Monday, January 06, 2003

Heavy backpack? Lift, don't fall.

What's the most common cause of backpack-related injuries among youngsters? You're probably thinking in terms of hideous spinal malformations caused by the weight of heavy books on developing shoulders, but guess what: according to a recent study, kids were more likely to get hurt falling over a backpack left carelessly on the floor than actually putting the thing on their backs. Now this news makes my day, because it both pokes a hole in my daughter's attempts to get out from under her allegedly back-breaking pack and into a wheeled model, and reassures me that other people's houses are every bit as messy as mine is. All I need is a study proving that wheeled backpacks cause dislocated shoulders from all that heavy pulling and bumping around, and I'll be a happy mom.

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