Musculoskeletal Pain and its Association with School Bag Weight and Diet Intake: A Cross-Sectional Study among School-Going Adolescents in Delhi

Abstract

Background: Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain is increasing in adolescent school students. This studyconducted to assess the role of heavy bag packs and faulty dietary habits in the causation of musculoskeletalpain.Methods: The study was conducted in school going 1600 adolescent school students of Delhi, India fromApril 2018 to March 2019. The demographic profile, symptoms of pain in neck, shoulder and back wasrecorded through a validated questionnaire and the simplified dietary gap assessment tool was applied toassess the dietary habits. The weight of the school bag was measured. The prevalence of musculoskeletalpain was 56.8% among adolescent school students. The musculoskeletal pain was significantly higher inthose students who were carrying bag weight 10-15% of their body weight and was two times higher thanthose students who were carrying bag weight less than 10% of their body weight. Students having dietarygap score of less than 5 out of 10 were more prevalent to get musculoskeletal pain than those having dietaryscore more than 8.Conclusions: Carrying of heavy school bag weight and gap in the diet among the school going adolescentscan lead to musculoskeletal pain