Pack it Light, Wear it Right:  Caddo Kiowa Technology Center’s Occupational Therapy Assistant students participate in National School Backpack Awareness Day

Fort Cobb, OK – October 10, 2005 – Caddo Kiowa Technology Center (CKTC) students enrolled in the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program and Fort Cobb-Broxton Middle School worked with the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) to weigh in on the issue of school backpacks and child health. 

The OTA students held a "weigh-in" to encourage 6th-8th grade students to "Lighten Up."  This effort is part of the National School Backpack Awareness Day held each year to educate children, parents, teachers and communities about the serious health problems children may have from backpacks that are too heavy or worn improperly.

“Students who do not wear their backpacks properly are likely to experience neck, shoulder, and back pain; adverse effects on posture and the developing spine; and compromised breathing and fatigue,” reported Christi Gates, an OTA instructor at CKTC.

Occupational therapy practitioners advise a backpack strategy of “Pack it Light, Wear it Right.”   They also recommend the following strategies for loading and wearing backpacks: backpacks should weigh no more than 15% of body weight (15-pound pack on a 100-pound child); load heaviest items closest to the child's back; wear both shoulder straps for an evenly balanced load; and adjust shoulder and waist straps to distribute the burden more evenly along the child's back.