LCC occupational therapy students
on mission to lighten school backpacks
“Lighten up!”
That’s the message Laredo Community College occupational therapy assistant students will be sending to students of all ages during the national observance of School Backpack Awareness Day on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
LCC students enrolled in the two-year OTA program will offer informative presentations in several college classrooms and at various schools around town and Zapata to raise awareness on the issue of school backpacks and health.
The national observance, led by the American Occupational Therapy Association, is done annually to educate children, parents, teachers, and communities about the serious health problems children may have from backpacks that are too heavy or worn improperly.
Occupational therapy practitioners advise a backpack strategy of “Pack it Light, Wear it Right.”
"Every year, we're seeing more children with stooped shoulders, sore necks, and aching backs from carrying school backpacks, and we can't afford to put our children at risk for a lifetime of problems," says AOTA Executive Director Joseph C. Isaacs. "Our children's future well-being is in jeopardy."
Jose Luis Sifuentes will be among the OTA students from LCC on a crusade to spread an important message to students, from elementary to college level.
“Students need to be aware of the consequences that can occur from carrying a heavy backpack and wearing it improperly,” Sifuentes said. He and classmates were busy this week preparing their highly informative presentations for 10 schools.
More than 40 million children in the United States carry school backpacks, and more than half of them may be carrying too much weight.
Children carrying overloaded backpacks and improperly worn packs, according to U.S. and international studies, are likely to experience neck, shoulder, and back pain; adverse effects on posture and the developing spine; and compromised breathing and fatigue.
The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission estimates that more than 7,000 emergency room visits in 2001 resulted from injuries related to backpacks and book bags—half of those occurred among children between the ages of five and 14, the ages of elementary and middle-school students.
The growing awareness of potential long-term problems to children has resulted in increased medical research and proposed legislation in at least two states to address the issue of backpack weight in relation to student health.
Some valuable tips for loading and wearing backpacks:
* Backpacks should weigh no more than 15 percent of body weight (15-pound pack on a 100-pound child);
* Load heaviest items closest to the child's back;
* Wear both shoulder straps for an evenly balanced load;
* Adjust shoulder and waist straps to distribute the burden more evenly along the child’s back; and
* Suggest that teachers consider the total weight of each day’s assigned class work — not only in content, but also in terms of textbook weight.
“Laredo Community College is concerned about students’ well-being," Terri Gonzalez, OTA instructor, said. "Because occupational therapy practitioners work with children in every school district in the nation, we wanted to spread the word to empower our children to lighten their load and share the backpack burden with their parents and teachers.”
For more information, contact Gonzalez at 721-5460.
Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants are trained in helping children with a broad range of issues in addition to ergonomics, such as good handwriting skills and developmental and behavioral problems.
LCC OTA student Jose Luis Sifuentes delivers his presentation on school backpack awareness. Looking on are, from left, classmates Nancy Maciel and Erica Molina.
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