Does your backpack ever feel like you are carrying your whole locker around?  Does your back hurt from your hefty load?

 

If you’ve answered yes to the above, then you may be suffering from backpackitis (a disorder which affects Ursuline girls whose backpacks weigh too much).

 

A healthy weight for a backpack should be anywhere from 10-15% of one’s body weight, and the weight of the backpack should be evenly distribued across the body.    Anything over the weight limit could lead to chronic shoulder, neck, or pack pain, and strained muscles or joints. 

 

 

Several dozen girls’ backpacks have been weighed and the results are in!  Which grade do you think has the heaviest backpack?

 

…And the results are in!

 

The heaviest backpack turned out to be one from the sophomore class, at 22.2 pounds, while second-heaviest went to seventh grader, who regularly lugs aroud 20.7 pounds.  On the other side of the scale, the lightest backpack was also from the sophomore class, weighing in at only 11.8 pounds; the second lightest from the junior class at 13.2 pounds.

 

Surprisingly, the weight of a backpack does not seem to depend on the grade of the backpack-wearer.  More likely it is good planning at their locker, heavy computers, and lots of unecessary add ons.

 

Here is an average of what we found using a professional luggage scale.  There are no samples yet available for 8th grade.

 

    Grade            Highest               Medium                 Lowest  

 

   6th                    19.5                    17.9                        16.3

 

   7th                     20.7                   19.7                        18.6

 

   9th                     21.8                     --                          17.9

 

  10th                    22.2                   16.8                        11.8

 

  11th                    19.5                   16.5                        13.2

 

  12th                    17.4                    16.4                       15.3

 

  

 

     Of the backpacks weighed, the average was 17.7 pounds.

 

 

If the average TUS student weighs 110 pounds, then a 17.7 pound backpack is 16.1% of her body weight. This is just over the recommended weight for backpacks!   Now imagine an 80-pound sixth grader carrying a 19.5-pound backpack!

 

Check this data out for yourself and see if you need to lighten your load.

 

Students' thoughts:

 

“Usually a heavy backpack means that you prepare earlier.”

-- Anonymous

 

“(It is a) Sign that you stay late after school; leave your textbooks here and carry them around.”

-- Briana Paul, ‘17

 

“It’s not heavy to me but it might be to someone else. After carrying this backpack around for years, I’m numb to the feeling. Sixth grade survivors know the pain.”

-- Sarah Bannerman, ‘15

 

    By Ananya Singh '21, Ariana Croese '17, Caroline Keenan '17