Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are a major public health problem. Recently, there has been an increase in musculoskeletal disorder complaints among school students. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting students' physical stature and the manner of carrying bags by them in Ilam, Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 244 students were randomly selected to participate in the study. A questionnaire was designed to collect required data. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used to find out complaints related to back, neck, and shoulder disorders. The height was measured using a portable stadiometer. A digital scale was used to measure the weight of students and their bags. Results: About 50 of the primary students reported discomforts in shoulder. The weights of bags carried by 66.4 of students were lighter than 10 of their body weight. Most students with different physical problems had tarpaulin bags. There was a significant relationship between the manner of carrying bags and their design (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The manner of carrying bags is an important factor among primary school children because carrying of heavy bags is clearly the effective factor and may be ignored as a physical stressor for primary students.