Abstract
It is well known that school bag has effects on the posture of early school students. Therefore, lack of data about the impact of school bags on body mechanics of children from Saudi Arabia.This study aimed to assess the effect of heavy school bag on the student's body mechanics at elementary school in Riyadh. We conducted this observational cross-sectional study by observing the posture, palpation meter (PALM), interview, and examining school bag content, of primary school students across the Riyadh. Total of 200 students was included in our study. Less than half of the students reported pain (41.5%). Students who reported pain (n=83) most of them had inappropriate school bag weight (85.5%), whereas (14.5%) school bag weight was appropriate and (67%) students had tilted in the shoulders. Our finding suggested that heavy school bags contributed to the presence of pain and shoulder tilt, whereas long duration of carrying school bag did not affect shoulder tilt. Thus, in future, education for parents must be conducted to make sure to prevent students from carrying bags exceeding the acceptable standard limit.