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As American kids pack on the pounds, the number of those with back pain is on the rise.
One in three between the ages of 10 and 18 said they had backaches in the past year, according to a survey of about 3,700 youngsters. The incidence rose along with kids' age and weight and was higher among those who play competitive sports.
...
About 80 percent of adults suffer from lower back pain at some time, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. But this is the first time the extent of back pain among children has been estimated on nationwide scale, the authors said. The youngsters surveyed were equally split by age and gender.
On average, those who reported back pain weighed more and had higher body mass indexes, or BMIs. (BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.)
...
Participation in competitive sports was strongly linked to back pain, with junior varsity and varsity athletes experiencing it more often than younger or recreational players. Most survey participants were active, with basketball the most commonly played sport, followed by dance, baseball, football and soccer.
Another contributor to kids' back pain is the backpacks they use to tote their stuff, researchers said. Those who used one strap to carry their packs reported significantly more back pain than did those who used both straps.
Those who used rolling backpacks reported back pain the most often. Fabricant said it wasn't clear whether pain prompted their use of the rolling packs or whether the rolling packs contributed to their pain.
Man, I should count my blessings more often. I'm...old, and I've only had a couple of spells of back pain in my whole life, and they've been blessedly short.
Fuzzy Necromancer wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:24 pm
Yeah there were lots of articles about this when my generation was getting into school, what with the over-loading of books. =/
Yup, it's the school books. Has nothing to do with bad sitting and walking habits, lack of movement and widespread overweight.
"If you get shot up by an A6M Reisen and your plane splits into pieces - does that mean it's divided by Zero?
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Fuzzy Necromancer wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:24 pm
Yeah there were lots of articles about this when my generation was getting into school, what with the over-loading of books. =/
Take your pick then of what's given me the occasional bouts of back pain. Three things spring to mind, overloading with school books, carried in a rucksack slung over one shoulder, being overweight now, or the time I spent digging through a collapse in an old mine, which involved lugging lots of sacks full of rubbish about (although I tried to take care on that one).
Way back in the dark depths of 30 years ago I had a duffel bag with 8 textbooks, plus some supplies (eg pens/paper/folders/binder) plus I'd throw in something to read and/or some gaming books/magazine(s). It was not light and care had to be taken in selecting a bag for school so it would last the year. I thought we were moving away from text books? I remember nieces and nephews needing school laptops.
You'd think school laptops would be the norm, but... budget problems. Of course, I don't remember hauling books between class as being that big of a problem. And they provided the books we needed in the class. Of course, from 2000 onward, I was in a "special eds" class at MLC, rather than a normal high school. SMH
"A culture's teachings - and more importantly, the nature of its people - achieve definition in conflict. They find themselves, or find themselves lacking."
— Kreia, Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords
