With so much back pain and injury among adults, shouldn't we start early and teach our children how to prevent these problems?

That's an excellent question. But before launching a national program that could cost millions of dollars, researchers want to find out whether such a program would work. They can do this by comparing children who receive back care education to those who do not receive any special tips.

So far, information gathered from this line of study has not been conclusive one way or the other. Some back care programs show good success in reducing back pain in children. Others don't seem to affect how children sit, lift, and bend. Part of the problem is that the studies measure different things and don't use the same research methods. Some of the studies are too short in duration (less than two weeks). Researchers really need to look at the effects of back care education over the long run.

More information is needed on who benefits from back care education, what guidelines should be presented, and when to begin teaching back care. Researchers are busy gathering this information.