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TUESDAY | AUGUST 6, 2013
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Know the facts of your living will
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Backpack choices should be weighed carefully By LINH TA linh.ta@wcfcourier.com and The Washington Post
WATERLOO — A colorful array of backpacks are greeting students during this year’s back-to-school season. Backpacks ranging from bucket-sized, to polka-dot printed, to little packs with bunny ears are available to satisfy any student’s accessory craving. However, many backpacks are not designed with proper posture in mind, said chiropractor Dr. Reed Pryor, owner of Better Health Chiropractic in Waterloo. To accommodate increasing space demands for text-
books, sports equipment and electronics, backpack sizes are growing without consideration for how much a student can actually carry. “The weight is getting greater and greater all the time,” Pryor said. “Even with my children, their backpacks are getting larger but they’d rather talk to people than go back to their locker.” For adequate posture, students should not carry more than 15 percent of their body weight, Reed said. However, heavy textbooks and short passing periods between classes often require students to carry a large load during the school day. That’s why students should always
wear both straps of their backpacks, use adjustable straps and plan ahead so they only carry a few books at a time, instead of all of them. “We need to get them out of fashion mode,” Reed said. “A lot of them will just wear one strap instead of the way they’re designed to be. While it may look cool, it causes students to lean to one side.” According to the American Occupational Therapy Association, 55 percent of students carry an overweight backpack, and 64 percent of students between the ages of 11 and 15 report pains from heavy school bags. This places stress on
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RIC (Receiver In Canal)
CIC (Completely In Canal)
spinal discs and affects posture, Reed said. “When (the discs) have abnormal stresses on them, they can compress or bulge and affect the soft tissues around that nerve,” Reed said. He recommends purchasing backpacks that provide lower-back support. While these backpacks are more costly, they assist with posture. Karen Jacobs, national
spokeswoman for the American Occupational Therapy Association’s National School Backpack Awareness Initiative, also recommends purchasing backpacks with a “breathable material.” Purchasing a bag with a lightweight fabric instead of leather lessens the weight on students. If backpack choices were up to Reed, “I’d have everyone with rolling luggage. It makes more sense,” he said.
PARAZZI PAPEW T PHOTO CONTEST
I stood beside my mother at my father’s grave site over Memorial Day weekend. Her grave stone sits beside his with the date of her birth e n g ra ve d and the date of her death left blank. Kathy Martin I said, “I is the staff dementia know the consultant and day will residence counselor come, and at Friendship Village and I know we have dis- marketing director c u s s e d for Friendship your wish- Village/Landmark Commons. Contact es, but it her at 3720 Village will still be Place, Waterloo a terrible 50702. shock. I am not ready even though you are almost 87.” I am not ready to lose my mother, and I imagine I am not alone, regardless of health conditions or age. I am my mother’s number one representative on her durable power of attorney for health care. This is a legal Iowa document that gives me the right and responsibility to make decisions for my mother if she is no longer able to speak for herself. A living will directs your physician to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures if you are in a terminal condition and cannot speak for yourself. A living will usually goes into effect when an individual has a terminal illness that has taken its course or if an elderly individual is in the natural process of dying.
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