ANGELES CITY – A country with an adult population suffering from spinal and other serious back injuries.
This scenario continues to worry this city’s reelected Rep. Carmelo Lazatin as he expressed concern over the health of school children, especially those enrolled in private schools. This amid reports that scores of them went back to classes even earlier last week, still burdened with school bags weighing about half as much as they do.
In the 14th Congress, Lazatin introduced House Bill No. 6644 titled “An Act Limiting the Amount of Bags Carried by Children in School and Implementing Measures to Protect School Children’s Health from the Adverse Effects of Heavy School Bags.” The bill was not passed.
He appealed to school authorities nationwide to consider implementing his bill, anyway.
Lazatin cited reports of recent random weighing showing that pupils bring to school bags which weigh as much as 50 percent or even more of their body weight.
“The bags are filled with textbooks, workbooks and notebooks. This is not to include the jug of water and lunch box,” he noted.
“I think this aberration has been going on nationwide for years now, as indicated by the expensive and huge school bags being sold at supermarkets and department stores. Most of them are fitted with wheels, but to be sure, the kids have to lift these bags at one time or another on their way to and from their classes, every day,” he noted.
Lazatin cited medical experts recommending that schools limit the weight of bags to less than 15 percent of the body weight of students.
“A1988 study conducted by the Hong Kong Society for Child Health and Development, which showed that 4.54 percent of Grade 3 to Grade 6 students have back problems ranging from mild to serious spinal deformities due to the heavy bags they carry to school daily,” he noted.
He also cited a 1994 Scandinavian study showing a high probability for spinal problems in children who carry backpacks, no matter how they wear them.
“The study found that 53.7 percent of children who carried their packs on one shoulder complained of back pain. Forty five percent of two shoulder pack wearers complained of back pain. Interestingly, the highest level of back pain, 68.6 percent carried the bag in one hand. The study also concluded that females were more likely to experience backpack-related pain than boys,” he quoted the study as saying.
“Pupils are supposed to listen to their teachers in school, and read their textbooks at home.
In the end, having pupils carry heavy load to school will be counterproductive, with many of them physically deformed as adults. Heavy load in school could be one reason why so many now suffer from spinal injuries, including slipped discs,” he said.
He also urged schools to consider investing in lockers where pupils could put in their textbooks and other school needs, instead of bringing them to and from school daily.
Lazatin lamented that most of pupils who are required to bring heavy bags to school are those from private Catholic schools. He cited the case of the Mary Help of Christians school in Mabalacat, Pampanga where the weight of bags carried by its gradeschoolers is about 40 percent of the children’s body weight.
Lazatin vowed to again introduce his bill against heavy school bags in the coming 15th congress.
“I want to introduce it early so that Congress could have enough time to consider it,” he said.
This scenario continues to worry this city’s reelected Rep. Carmelo Lazatin as he expressed concern over the health of school children, especially those enrolled in private schools. This amid reports that scores of them went back to classes even earlier last week, still burdened with school bags weighing about half as much as they do.
In the 14th Congress, Lazatin introduced House Bill No. 6644 titled “An Act Limiting the Amount of Bags Carried by Children in School and Implementing Measures to Protect School Children’s Health from the Adverse Effects of Heavy School Bags.” The bill was not passed.
He appealed to school authorities nationwide to consider implementing his bill, anyway.
Lazatin cited reports of recent random weighing showing that pupils bring to school bags which weigh as much as 50 percent or even more of their body weight.
“The bags are filled with textbooks, workbooks and notebooks. This is not to include the jug of water and lunch box,” he noted.
“I think this aberration has been going on nationwide for years now, as indicated by the expensive and huge school bags being sold at supermarkets and department stores. Most of them are fitted with wheels, but to be sure, the kids have to lift these bags at one time or another on their way to and from their classes, every day,” he noted.
Lazatin cited medical experts recommending that schools limit the weight of bags to less than 15 percent of the body weight of students.
“A1988 study conducted by the Hong Kong Society for Child Health and Development, which showed that 4.54 percent of Grade 3 to Grade 6 students have back problems ranging from mild to serious spinal deformities due to the heavy bags they carry to school daily,” he noted.
He also cited a 1994 Scandinavian study showing a high probability for spinal problems in children who carry backpacks, no matter how they wear them.
“The study found that 53.7 percent of children who carried their packs on one shoulder complained of back pain. Forty five percent of two shoulder pack wearers complained of back pain. Interestingly, the highest level of back pain, 68.6 percent carried the bag in one hand. The study also concluded that females were more likely to experience backpack-related pain than boys,” he quoted the study as saying.
“Pupils are supposed to listen to their teachers in school, and read their textbooks at home.
In the end, having pupils carry heavy load to school will be counterproductive, with many of them physically deformed as adults. Heavy load in school could be one reason why so many now suffer from spinal injuries, including slipped discs,” he said.
He also urged schools to consider investing in lockers where pupils could put in their textbooks and other school needs, instead of bringing them to and from school daily.
Lazatin lamented that most of pupils who are required to bring heavy bags to school are those from private Catholic schools. He cited the case of the Mary Help of Christians school in Mabalacat, Pampanga where the weight of bags carried by its gradeschoolers is about 40 percent of the children’s body weight.
Lazatin vowed to again introduce his bill against heavy school bags in the coming 15th congress.
“I want to introduce it early so that Congress could have enough time to consider it,” he said.
