Back pack safety: Backpack buying tips

Backpack Safety: Backpack Buying Tips

 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that backpack safety begins with making sure parents purchase the right backpack. Look for:

•A lightweight backpack that doesn’t add weight to what your child must carry. If it’s a choice between that cool leather backpack, and a more common canvas backpack, choose the canvas. It’s lighter, so better for backpack safety.

•Two broad shoulder straps with padding are better than narrow straps... which are more likely to dig trenches into a child’s shoulders. A backpack with one shoulder strap may look awesome, but isn’t good for backpack safety. Your child needs two straps to distribute the weight of the pack as evenly as possible.

•Padded backs are a feature of better quality backpacks and a must for backpack safety. Padding makes the backpack more comfortable, and also keep those sharp pencils, rulers, and book corners, for instance, from poking your child in the back.

•Waist belts are important for backpack safety, as they keep the weight of the backpack more evenly spread out, to prevent stress on any one part of the body.

•Lots of compartments are good for backpack safety, because these too, help spread the weight around, preventing injury and stress to the body.

Sources: http://www.kars4kids.org/blog/backpack-safety-tips/