Kids are back to school and eager beaver parents are packing their bags and backpacks accordingly.

However, once you load up your son or daughter’s backpack with books, binders, pens, crayons, binders, notepads, and lunch—you may be preparing them for more than a successful school year. In fact, you might be setting them up for a future of neck, shoulder, back,  joint, muscle, and hip injuries!

Roughly 14,000 children are treated for backpack-related issues yearly, according to these statistics from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. At Barton Chiropractic we take care of a large amount of children and we see many problems directly related to backpack weight.  So before you pile the weight of the entire school year onto your child’s back, consider this: the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons explains that kids who carry backpacks that weigh more than 15-percent of their body weight are prone to neck, back, and shoulder pain, muscle and joint issues, and even permanent damage to posture.  Luckily, the Huffington Post has junior’s back with this A+ infographic on back-to-school backpack safety tips…