Load Carriage in School Children: Epidemiology & Exercise Science

Concerns have been raised over recent decades about the backpack or school bag weight of children in countries world-wide. A strong association was found between habitual heavy backpack carriage and spinal symptoms such as fatigue, muscle soreness, back pain, numbness, shoulder pain, and even spinal deformity. Numerous studies emerged to reveal the effects of load carriage on energy expenditure, cardiovascular and respiratory response, lung volume and ventilation restriction, gait kinetics and gait kinematics, and muscle activity and fatigue. This book reviews research on load carriage among children.