Students interning in Health Promotion at Student Health Services are working to promote back health on campus.Marianne Turnbull, coordinator of health promotion at Student Health Services, said that she’s been doing outreach programs similar to these for three years now.

“We usually set them up in the fall because that’s when all of the freshman come in,” Turnbull said. “Since they’re new, they don’t know about some of the health issues and we try to educate them.”

According to Turnbull, the back health outreach program was designed to give students better tips to carry their back packs so they don’t encounter severe back problems in the future.

“We see so many back injuries at the health center, and a lot of it is because of backpacks,” she said. “Students are carrying their backpacks low, or they’re only using one strap instead of two.”

Turnbull, along with UNC-Chapel Hill interns Adriane Kohl, Katie Mackowiak and Kathryn Menzel, set up a stand near the bookstore in order to aid students who weren’t carrying their backpacks properly and to give them tips to avoid back pain.

“We’re trying to promote healthy behaviors among students here on campus,” Kohl said. “It’s cool when we talk to someone and they change the way they’re carrying their bag because it’s going to make such a difference in the long run.”

Several students were stopped and asked to weigh their backpacks, including Alex Kovach, a junior in chemistry.

“His backpack was heavy enough because of how much he weighed, but he was carrying it too low,” Kohl said. “This causes curvature in the spine.”

Kovach said education on back health should be pushed harder in high schools.

“I wish they would tell this to people in high school, back when we had to carry four huge textbooks around,” he said. “We had lockers but class changes were so short and you never had time to go to your locker. People will get used to carrying their backpacks this way.”

Lavenia Lipford, a sophomore in industrial engineering, said she wasn’t aware that her bag was too heavy for her weight.

“I always knew my backpack was heavy,” Lipford said. “I knew you’re supposed to keep in high, but I had no idea it was too heavy for me to be carrying.”

Though the interns stopped several students and gave them a handout of backpack health tips, most had their backpacks fitted properly.

“The majority of the people I’ve seen have their backpacks situated so that it’s good for them,” Mack said. “A lot of problems come when people only use one strap instead of two, or when they have side bags and huge purses.”

Mack also said some majors are worse off than others.

“I’ve talked to a lot of science majors and it seems like they all have very heavy books,” Mack said. “Other people I talked to said ‘It’s my heavy day,’ or ‘I actually have a book today’ so it definitely depends on the professor you have.”

Menzel said she feels that some of the problem is because of image.

“People think it’s cool to wear their bags low or to only use one strap, but they’re doing so much damage to their back,” she said. “If their habits don’t change, they’re going to have back problems by the time they’re 30.”