Back pain is familiar to almost every second adult. But with the advent of smartphones, tablets, and other modern gadgets, this “disease” began to rejuvenate.
Many children at such a young age also complain of spinal problems. Earlier, 10-15 years ago, children spent the lion’s share of time on the street in moving games. Even at school, during breaks, you could see active games, such as “small pile”, fishing, classics, rubber bands. Now, we can easily watch a child standing quietly at the windowsill, staring at his phone. An almost complete decrease in activity in childhood is the main cause of spinal problems in adulthood.
How to understand that the child’s spine began to bend?
Asymmetrical position of the shoulder blades, one-shoulder above or below the other – all these are signs of possible curvature of the spine. Ask your child to stand up straight and turn sideways to you. Next, have the child raise his or her hand (from the observation side) and place his or her palm on his or her head. In this position, the pelvis, shoulder, and ear should form a single straight vertical line. If this is not the case, consult a specialist.
In addition to visual signs, regular complaints of the child about a headache, back and heart pain, increased fatigue can speak about problems with a backbone. All these are reasons for an immediate trip to the pediatric orthopedist and surgeon.
How to prevent curvature of the spine?
To understand what is really effective and what is not in the prevention of spinal disease, you need to understand how it works. By themselves, the bones and intervertebral discs are not able to withstand any weight greater than 3 kilograms. Only thanks to the muscles of the back, the spine can withstand not only the weight of the human body but also the additional load.
Therefore, no medication is able to prevent or correct the curvature of the spine. Moving games, physical education, active lifestyle – this is the key to a healthy back and proper posture.
Strengthen the child’s back
As soon as a child enters school, his or her activity is severely limited. Until the age of 7, she ran and played all day, and now spends most of the day sitting at a desk. Even with perfect posture, this lifestyle has a negative effect on the spine.
The best way to strengthen a child’s back – a variety of sports, and the leader among them – swimming. It evenly and very effectively develops all the muscles of the body, including the back. In addition to swimming, any symmetrical sports are suitable: snowboarding, skiing, cycling, gymnastics, rowing, etc. But tennis or fencing, for example, should be avoided, because they develop more only one part of the body. Violin lessons can also have a very negative effect on the condition of the child’s spine.
Do not forget about the usual morning exercise. Just don’t force your baby to do it alone. The best solution is your own example. Start exercising regularly yourself, and your child will gradually start repeating after you.
Healthy spine at school
Start with a backpack! Pick the right backpack and explain to the child that it must be worn on both shoulders at the same time. Also, watch the weight of the backpack, according to medical recommendations for primary school children, its weight should not exceed 10% of the child’s weight, and for older – no more than 15%. For example, if a first-grader weighs 25 kg, the weight of the backpack should not exceed 2.5 kg.
The desk at school and at home should suit the child – to match his growth. And here’s how to check: the surface of the desk should be at the level of the solar plexus (diaphragm), then the baby will not squat while sitting behind it. The distance from the table surface to eye level should be not less than 30-35 cm. Also do not forget about the chair – sitting on it, the child’s feet should lie flat on the floor, and the bend in the knees is a right angle of 90 degrees.
It is good when the teacher himself knows (and if not, he needs to be told) that students need to be transplanted at least once a month. That is, 1 month the child sits in the right row from the board, the next month – on the left, a month later at the nearest desk, then – at the far, etc. This is necessary so that the body does not get used to the same position.
And now the most important thing – follow the recommendations regularly! This is something that parents often forget. Be the best example for your baby. And always be healthy!
