BACKGROUND: Carrying the school bag may lead to forward leaning of the head
and trunk which may result in spinal deformities.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of carrying
a backpack on neck angles and ground reaction forces (GRFs) in children.
METHODS: 3-D motion analysis system, with a force plate, was used to examine
the effect of carrying backpack on neck angles and GRFs of thirty children with mean age
(10.06 ± 1.31 years), mean weight (34.56 ± 6.9 kg), and mean height (138.63 ± 9.82 cm).
The unloaded posture was compared with posture when carrying a backpack. The static test
was used to assess the three angles of the neck, and the dynamic test was used to assess
the GRFs.
RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the craniohorizontal angle
and shoulder sagittal posture between carrying backpack and without backpack (p = 0.153
and 0.272) respectively. There was a significant decrease in the craniovertebral angle in
carrying backpack than without backpack (p = 0.032). There was a significant increase in
GRFs values in carrying backpack than without backpack (p < 0.032).
CONCLUSION: Carrying backpack with a load 7.5% of the child's body weight
alters the head posture and GRFs values.
