Background: Many students carry school backpacks that exceed 10 to 15 percent of their body weight, which puts them at risk for back pain and related disorders. Improper backpack use can also lead to poor posture. Aim of the study was to assess parental knowledge about standard school backpacks, correct carrying of backpack, and assess their awareness of musculoskeletal disorders related to use of school backpack.
Subjects & Methods: A randomized cross-sectional study was used. The study was carried out using a multistage random sampling at Assiut city. The subjects of the study were 318 parents and their children.
The tool of data collection was: A self structured questionnaire developed by the researchers and filled by parents contained two parts: Part I. Personal data. Part II: Knowledge of parents about school backpack and its effect on the child's health.
Results: Most parents were unaware of standard school backpack, correct body mechanics of carrying school backpack. Also, Most of them (92.5%) reported that their children complain of heavy school bag. Meanwhile, only 7.5% carry school backpack with ideal weight. More than half of the studied parents (58.5%) reported that their children spent ≥ 30 minutes carrying the school backpack, & two-thirds of them (66%) walk to school. Also, more than two-thirds of them put additional contents in their school backpack & complain of low back pain, shoulder or arm pain (68.9% & 66.7%) respectively. In addition, more than two-thirds of the studied parents didn't check their children' school backpack.
Conclusion: Most parents were unaware of the standard school backpack, correct method for carrying the school backpack or musculoskeletal disorders related to the use of heavy school backpack. Recommendation: Design and implement educational program about characteristics of healthy school backpack for parents, teachers, and school children, Provision of school lockers to save the excess books.