Dr. Toni Marchand DC | August 2025
As your child is headed back for classrooms and hallways we want to make sure they have the tools for success this year when it comes to their spine and nervous system! From better posture to improved cognitive function chiropractic is here to support your family! Check out some of our tips for keeping your child’s body and spine in tip-top shape this school year!
Movement Matters!
With the start of the new school year, there is one hot topic we love to talk to our students and remind our adults about—and that is their posture.
I like to start by debunking some of the myths we often hear about posture. We are often told to “stand up straight, bring your shoulders back, tuck the chin, don’t slouch”. While this may look to some as the “perfect posture” that is not always the case. I like to tell people that “even if you stood or sat in the “perfect posture” all day long your body would not like that, but what your body would like is for you to move it. That is why I like to say that the “best posture is the next posture”. It is inevitable that we will be stuck in certain positions for long periods of time that are uncomfortable. So, it is important we are taking the time to move our bodies out of the continuous positions we are in all day long.
I like to think of this as giving your body a “mobility snack” throughout the day. Taking just five minutes every hour to go through some spinal mobility and stretch your body is a great place to start (check out our YouTube stretching and mobility videos here!). Stretching your whole body is ideal, but with limited time– focus on the areas that are being put into more stress. For someone that is desk sitting that might look like mobility in the neck, mid-back, shoulders, and glutes (honestly… your whole body, folks). However, it is understandable that sometimes we get stuck in meetings that go beyond an hour or as a student in a classroom we are not always given a few minutes to take a break. So, if it is challenging to break up movement throughout the day then try to take a bigger chunk of time that you can dedicate to mobility. Take your body through ranges of motion you weren’t able to be in during your day.
Not only will mobility help with your postures and tension, but movement is a great way to refocus throughout the day. Long school and work days are hard and it is easy to become distracted when our brain has taken in large amounts of information at once. Stretching, deep breaths, and drinking water can always help with realigning the day. Additionally, making sure we are setting our kiddos and ourselves up for a successful day starts with getting adequate enough sleep at night, starting the morning with water and a high protein breakfast, and movement throughout the day!
Our bodies are meant and designed to move in different directions and planes and to withstand different loads and pressures. With that—let’s talk about loading a backpack for your kiddos.
- Make sure they are wearing both straps to distribute weight evenly
- Adjust the straps to be snug so that the bag isn’t pulling them backwards
- It’s usually recommended that the bag weighs 10% of their body weight- try to pack light and put heavier items near the back
- Choose the right backpack size (littles need a smaller bag for their height and weight)
- The bottom of the bag should rest in the curve of their low back
- Additional straps are helpful, if the bag has a chest or waist strap use those
When in doubt– if your body is feeling uncomfortable and sore throughout the day get a “mobility snack” in!