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Load carrying using backpacks is common among students from primary schools to tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Backpacks are used for carrying books and other school materials. The aim of this study is to determine the mass of backpack that students in tertiary institutions using strain energy principles of the spine. Ten students in a selected tertiary institution participated in the study. A model was developed using strain energy in terms of chest width, chest depth, Young Modulus of Elasticity of articular cartilage, maximum permissible spinal shrinkage, length of spine and body height of the students. The 5th, 50th, ands 95th percentiles of the data obtained were computed using a SPSS 16.0 statistical package. The study confirmed that the model is valid and showed that the maximum backpack load limit for students in tertiary institutions should be 12% of body mass. Similar studies were recommended to be carried out in primary and secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear measurements have been assumed to have linear correlation with standing height that may not be so. The aim of this study was to establish the actual relationship between standing height and popliteal height. Four hundred and eighty (480) students were randomly selected from eight public secondary schools and eight private secondary in Ibadan, South Western Nigeria with a mean age of 14 years (n = 480, SD = ± 2.3 years). The anthropometric data were collected based on age rather than levels in schools and gender since the schools were co-educational. The data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as standard deviations, minimum values, maximum values. The fifth, fifty and ninety-five percentiles of the data were determined using Excel Microsoft Package. The popliteal height was subjected to curve estimation using SPSS 16.0 Statistical Package. The model with p < 0.005 and highest coefficient of determinations was selected as the best model to predict the relationship between the standing height and popliteal height. The results of the study show that the standing height correlate more non-linearly correlated with popliteal height than being linear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]