Friday 15 April 2016

Do you know the weight of your child’s school bag?

You must have always wondered that the school bag that your kid is carrying is quite heavy. But do you have an idea on what it is doing to your child’s health? If no, then this one’s for you. As per the Children’s School Bag Act 2006, the school bag should not be more than the 10% weight of the child’s body. Also, as per the law, the kids of kindergarten and nursery shouldn’t be allowed to carry school bags. But the reality is just opposite.

As per the experts, the growing kids are now reporting of severe backaches in high numbers. This is mostly due to carrying heavy bags on their backs. And this is leading to such irreversible problems, which can be an issue for a lifetime. Government as well as private schools is not paying any heed to this issue. The government has made strict laws for the same, but now its time to keep a check on it. As per the doctors this is a healthcare time bomb, where kids carrying more than 15% of their weight regularly on their shoulders, can permanently damage their backbones. Vishal Kumar, an expert from the department of orthopedics in PGIMER says that this is the age, when the bone structure of the kids is being developed and if it gets painful or crooked at this age, then this will become a life long matter.

These heavy bags lead to complaints of slip discs, spondylitis, back ache and more during the early stage of life, and this means that the kids would have to deal with the problem for the next 70 years. As per the rules, schools should have lockers available in their premises for every kid to store their books and all the study material there, so that they don’t have to carry the heavy bags every day to and fro. There are just a couple of schools, which are adhering to the rules and have lockers available for all the kids. Its time every authority of the schools to take up this matter.

Looking forward in this matter, PGIMER is planning to hold an awareness program for the kids, teachers as well as the parents on this topic, so that everybody is aware of the consequences of the situation and find a solution for the same.


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