School Bags and Musculoskeletal Pain Among Elementary School Children In Chennai City

Abstract

Regular use of heavy school bags and inappropriate carrying methods can put children at the risk ofmusculoskeletal problems and changes the body posture. This study set out to determine the prevalence ofmusculoskeletal pain and their relationship with school bags weight. This cross sectional exploratory study wasconducted in different elementary schools in Chennai, South India. A total of 510 elementary school childrencomprising of 297 boys and 213 girls aged between 6 to 12 years participated in the study. Each pupils body weightand school bag weight were measure using standard technique. The ratio of pupil’s school weight to body weightwas calculated and used to estimate the percentage weight of school bag in relation to body weight and theparticipants also completed a designed questionnaire to identify prevalence of pain. A high prevalence ofmusculoskeletal pain 60.6% and 65.7% among male and female elementary school children respectively wasreported and the most common area being back and neck. A significantly positive association was found betweenpercentage of school bag weight and presence of musculoskeletal pain among the children (P< 0.05). The studyresults were in line with the prevalence of primary school children of many developing countries and below parwith some African studies owing to different educational demands