FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Back Education Improves Habits, Reduces Back Pain in Kids
PHILADELPHIA, PA February 4, 2002 - Fourth- and fifth-grade children attending a back education program have better back care habits one year later, along with lower rates of back and neck pain, according to a study in the February issue of the journal Spine.
Greet M. Cardon, Ph.D., and colleagues of Ghent University, Belgium, evaluated back habits in 198 children aged 9 to 11 years, who had attended a specially designed back education course at school. The course was designed to improve the children's awareness and practice of proper back habits, such as sitting posture, lifting, and carrying a book bag.
When observed one year later, children who attended the back course had significantly better back habits than a group of 165 children who did not receive back education. The results were confirmed in a "candid camera" evaluation, in which the children were unaware that their performance was being observed.
Back education also seemed to reduce back pain in children. In children attending the back course, the rate of back and neck pain decreased from 31 to 23 percent. For children who did not receive back education, the rate of back pain increased slightly--from 28 to 30 percent.
Most efforts to prevent back pain have focused on adults. However, the habits leading to back pain may start early in life, leading some researchers to suggest that back education for children could have long-term benefits.
Research has found increasing rates of back pain in children and adolescents. A study in the January issue of Spine suggested that carrying heavy backpacks may contribute to back pain in children.
The new results suggest that a back education program for children has lasting benefits in improving children's posture and habits, and even in reducing the rate of back and neck pain. Dr. Cardon and colleagues call for increased efforts to promote back education for children, as well as long-term studies of how such programs affect the rate of back pain in adulthood.
Recognized internationally as the leading journal in its field, Spine reports on today's most important diagnostic and therapeutic advances regarding spinal pain, deformity, and disability. Distinguished by its broad scope of coverage and emphasis on patient care, this popular biweekly has earned must-read status in the orthopaedic community. For more information, call 1-800-638-3030 or visit www.spinejournal.com.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (www.LWW.com) is a global publisher of medical, nursing and allied health information resources in book, journal, newsletter, looseleaf, and electronic media formats.
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