Health: Schoolchildren, mind your backs

A FAMILY of four could go away for a weekend with less luggage. Coat, schoolbooks, PE kit, art folder, violin: children are not only struggling to school with such loads, but also from class to class during the day.

There is growing concern that these burdens are causing back problems during childhood that may lead to chronic pain in adult life.

In the past, most secondary children had an allocated desk with a sloped writing-top and room to store books - furniture that has now largely been replaced by flat-topped desks to accommodate group work. Pupils tend to move around during the day, sometimes sitting at desks and tables intended for someone bigger or smaller. Unless the school has lockers, they may carry their schoolwork with them all day.

Russell Dean, a chiropractor, says: "Sitting in front of the TV or a computer screen, carrying heavy bags and sitting at flat school desks are all setting up problems for the future. It's not just carrying the bags that is a problem, but the way they are carried. Too often you see children struggling under loads that are carried on one shoulder. If you are carrying weights, it should be evenly distributed. Too much strain on the back can lead to scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, particularly if it is unbalanced."

The Chiropractic Treatment Centre in Bournemouth has been undertaking research into the origins of back disorders. Dr Malihe G Zahedi says that patients' records spanning the last 15 years show that some disorders start in childhood and are often associated with school activities such as carrying school bags, sitting for long periods, and certain sporting activities.

The National Back Pain Association (NBPA) raised many of these issues during National Back Pain Week last year. David Newbound is chairman of their children's working party. "We expect [children] to carry quite unreasonable weights. There are Health and Safety directives that prescribe what a postman should be carrying, but no such guidelines relating to children in schools, which is the reason why the NBPA has issued its own guidelines."

One school taking the problem seriously is Acland Burghley, a comprehensive in Camden. "The transition from primary to secondary school can be quite a shock," says the deputy head, Simon Barber. "We've been looking into buying lockers, but they are expensive and we need to be sure of getting a good investment."

Lockers aren't always the answer, says Linda Castle, mother of two boys at a middle school in Berkshire. "There's not always enough time to go back to the locker and change books between lessons," she points out. "They get into trouble if they are late for a lesson, so they keep everything with them. On games days, they are carrying PE kits too."

One possible solution has been tried Roy Ludlow, a headteacher who has incorporated a rucksack recommended by the NBPA into the school uniform of Beecher Cliff comprehensive in Bath. He says: "Not only do they protect children's backs, but they also have reflective strips which are an added safety feature. They're not compulsory yet, but it will be for all new pupils."

The NPBA schoolbags were designed by a team of experts, including Jim Taylour, an ergonomist. He is concerned not only with sound schoolbags, but also with well designed school furniture. "It is important to make sure that an environment fits the people, rather than the people fitting into the environment... School furniture is not in line with modern thoughts on posture and sitting, and needs to have a complete overhaul. I work with occupational health people from many large companies, and they report that more and more young people are entering the workplace with bad backs and postural problems."

Another ergonomist, Levent Caglar, has been working on a European Standard for school furniture. Schools will have two routes to choose from, he says - "flat-topped desks, or chairs with a slightly raised back that will open the angle of the children's body to their thighs, and should be used with a sloping desk... What we don't have at the moment is any definitive research looking at both types of furniture."

The problem for many schools is likely to be that of raising the money to replace furniture. But David Newbound says, "It is possible to buy a good, economical chair for under pounds 20, and schools that have the moulded plastic bucket seat can modify them with a wedge for less than pounds 15.

Emma Tate, Director of the National Back Pain Association, recommends: "We should make an investment in children now which might help to protect their backs for the future. Why are we subjecting children to seats that would be unacceptable in the workplace? Children are getting a raw deal."