Load carriage and kinematic adaptations in overweight and healthy-weight schoolchildren

Previous studies suggest that the maximum weight for overweight children’s backpacks should be less than 10% of their body weight (BW). In this study we aim to analyse the postural adaptations for obese/overweight and healthy-weight students while carrying a backpack or a school trolley with varying loads. Based on the kinematic analysis of thorax, hip, and knee, the obese/overweight group adapted their posture in a similar way than those in the healthy-weight group under different load conditions. Thus, the lightest backpack load recommendation for the obese-overweight group was not supported in this study.