An attempt to determine the difference in the impact of loading with the mass of school supplies carried using the left- and right-hand thrust on body posture of 7-year-old pupils of both genders

Abstract

Introduction. Periodically, the issue of overloading children with too heavy school backpacks is raised. Material and methods. Body posture tests were conducted in a group of 65 pupils aged 7 using mora projection in the following three positions: 1- habitual posture, 2 – body posture after pulling the container with school supplies for 10 minutes with the left hand, 3 - pull with the right hand. We measured physical fitness by means of the Sekita test. Then, we analysed the significance of differences between measurement 1 and 2, and measurement 3 and 4 to define the influence of load and correlation with physical fitness and to investigate which mode of transport, pulling with the left or right hand, disturbs body posture to a lesser extent. Conclusions. 1. Transporting a 4-kilo mass of school supplies with the right or left hand disturbs the biomechanical statics of the body of a 7-year-old child with the same significant and negative effect, which may cause postural mistakes in the long term and consequently postural defects. Therefore, this method of transporting school items should not be recommended to first form pupils. 2. General physical fitness is of greater positive importance in biomechanical disorders of body posture among boys than girls. Among boys, the relationships of individual postural characteristics are similar in both modes of transport, and among girls, more relationships are observed in the case of right hand pulling. The most significant motor skills among boys include endurance and strength and among girls - speed and strength. 3. Restitution of the size of any of the analysed body posture features was not complete 1 and 2 minutes after stopping pulling with the right or left hand.