ATMPH_109_17 600 © 2017 Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Original article Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: www.atmph.org DOI: 10.4103/ATMPH.ATMPH_109_17 and 14; therefore, adolescents are more sensitive and susceptible to severe damages in their muscles, ligaments, and bones. Because of strength and rigidity of ligaments and muscles, the spinal column can keep its natural shape while walking, running, jumping, and carrying objects. However, carrying the heavy objects and bags, continuously and in a long time, can cause musculoskeletal disorders in the spinal column and shoulders, respectively. [3] Introduction Musculoskeletaldisordersareamajorpublichealthproblem. [1] In recent years, an increase in musculoskeletal disorder complaints among school students has been reported. In some conditions, people have to carry some means or devices for different purposes. [2] The manner of carrying these things should be considered because inappropriate methods of carrying heavy objects can cause physical problems and anatomical deformities in the long term. [3] The growth process take places between the ages of 6 Correspondence: Eng. Alireza Khammar, Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran. E-mail: alireza.khammar@zbmu.ac.ir The effects of the manner of carrying the bags on musculoskeletal symptoms in school students in the city of Ilam, Iran 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. Mohsen Poursadeghiyan 1 , Keykaous Azrah 2 , Hamed Biglari 3 , Mohammad Hossein Ebrahimi 4 , Hamed Yarmohammadi 5 , Mohammad Mehdi Baneshi 6 , Mahsa Hami 7 , Alireza Khammar 8 Key words: Carrying bag, musculoskeletal symptoms, physical stature, primary school students This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com Cite this article as: Poursadeghiyan M, Azrah K, Biglari H, Ebrahimi MH, Yarmohammadi H, Baneshi MM, et al. The effects of the manner of carrying the bags on musculoskeletal symptoms in school students in the city of Ilam, Iran. Ann Trop Med Public Health 2017;10:600-5. 1 Department of Ergonomics, Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 2 Students Research Commitee, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, 3 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, 4 Occupational and Environmental Health Research Center, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, 5 Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, 7 Master of Economic Development and Planning, University of Firoozkooh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Firoozkooh, 7 Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran