About 90 per cent of Australian school children are risking severe spinal damage because of the way they carry their backpacks, research has found.
Chiropractors are warning of early bone degeneration and chronic disability if the trend continues.
"Putting too much stress on a child's back at such an important stage of growth and development will result in serious spinal problems immediately and later on in life," said Billy Chow from the Chiropractors' Association of Australia (CAA).
The observational study of high-traffic school commute routes, carried out by CAA chiropractors, surveyed 346 students in Adelaide.
Ninety per cent of them were found to have bad posture when carrying their school bags.
Almost 80 per cent were lugging around bags that were bulging and 75 per cent weren't using their ergonomic features.
"Children are still overloading their backpacks with textbooks, sports and other gear, or simply not wearing them in the correct way," Mr Chow said.
Students in junior school were carrying the heaviest backpacks, with their bags weighing about 17 per cent of their body weight.
Thirty-three per cent of students wore their backpacks too low on their backs while 20 per cent used only one shoulder.
Mr Chow said the problems this caused ranged from reduced mobility, early degeneration of bones and joints, and pressure on a child's nervous system.
"These results are a major concern for the health of our schoolchildren," he said.
The CAA also surveyed parents and found they were unaware of the problem and didn't know the correct method for wearing backpacks.
Forty per cent of them were oblivious to their child's poor posture. A third said they were concerned their children were not wearing their bags in the correct position.
"Nearly all schoolchildren have bad posture while carrying backpacks (but) there is a lack of knowledge about how to identify what is bad posture, and therefore how to improve it," Mr Chow said.
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