{
  "id": 2923692,
  "title": "Back to school UAE: Heavy schoolbags could hurt your child's spine — doctors reveal 10% rule, trolleys vs backpacks",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/back-to-school-uae-heavy-schoolbags-could-hurt-your-childs-spine",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-24T02:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/back-to-school-uae-heavy-schoolbags-could-hurt-your-childs-spine-doctors-reveal-10-rule-trolleys-vs-backpacks-1.500649780"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Grade 3, students would be astonished when a classmate carried a heavy bag. They saw the heavy bag as an indicator of academic excellence, often assuming the student excelled in mental math or received top grades. However, the heavy bag was not always a symbol of success. In the United Arab Emirates, teenagers entering their final years of schooling: dreams of fashion, football and astrophysics were vibrant. One student's bag was overturned, revealing a myriad of items - textbooks, storybooks, a pencil box, and a bottle - all squeezed together. Upon discovering this, the child complained to the teacher. The teacher sympathized, but also cautioned his mother: please refrain from allowing your child to carry the entire household on their back. It was unnecessary and potentially damaging to the child's posture, a concern that became more apparent when the teacher noticed the child walking with a slight hunch.\n\nA good backpack should be lightweight, featuring two wide, padded, adjustable shoulder straps, and ideally, a structure or padding at the back. Unfortunately, children only learned one lesson: don't investigate someone else's bag. The real lesson, however, deserves attention as parents prepare for another school year. Schoolbags can be one of the heaviest items a child carries daily, containing books, laptops or tablets, water bottles, lunch boxes, pencil cases, PE kits, and various other items that accumulate throughout the school week. Discomfort should not be dismissed as a rite of passage, but rather a warning sign. The question arises: how heavy is too heavy, and when does a schoolbag transition from being useful to becoming a burden on a growing body?\n\nDr. Ravi Nayak, a Specialist Orthopaedic Surgeon at Medcare Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital, provides a simple guideline: aim for a schoolbag weighing no more than 10% of the child's body weight. For example, a child weighing 30 kg should ideally carry around 3 kg or less. Physiotherapist Sofia Kia Turner concurs, adding that 10% is a useful practical target, but cautions against treating any specific figure as a magical cut-off. While there isn't a scientifically proven limit, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that backpacks should not exceed 15% of a child's body weight, making 15% an upper limit rather than a target.\n\nDr. Nayak emphasizes that parents should consider how long a child carries the bag, whether they walk long distances, and if they have any existing musculoskeletal concerns. Younger children, in particular, may be less able to tolerate heavy loads due to their developing bodies. Turner emphasizes the importance of choosing a lightweight bag with proper fit and adjustability, prioritizing comfort over marketing claims. Multiple compartments can help distribute the contents evenly, and a chest strap adds stability, especially for children who walk or cycle. Regularly checking the bag for unnecessary items each day is more effective than simply purchasing a larger backpack.",
  "summary": "In Grade 3, we would be rather wide-eyed when our classmate told us he was carrying a heavy bag. We were impressed: he was the class's genius, the one getting 10/10 in mental math and collecting all the gold stars. We didn't quite question why he was taking all of his books home when, frankly, he could have just left them in his desk at school. UAE teens in their final school years: 'It's scary'…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}