Prevent stress: Parents and schools have a role to play to ensure kids' school bags weigh no more than 15% of their body weight.

As overweight school bags may cause students stress and fatigue, the Education & Manpower Bureau has called on schools and parents to help students keep their school bags as light as possible in the new school year.

The Department of Health recommends that students should avoid carrying school bags which exceed 15% of their body weight.

Schools and parents can work together to help students lighten their load.

The bureau suggests the following measures that both parties can have a role in:

* Foster in students the habit of packing school bags daily so that they only bring to school the essential textbooks, exercise books and stationery items.

* Encourage students to use school bags, pencil cases and other stationery items which are made of durable but lightweight materials.

* Help students to develop a good habit of using lockers (or storage space provided by school) in a proper and effective manner.

Schools can help in the following ways:

* Review the timetable to ensure lessons are suitably arranged. Minimise the number of subjects for each day so that students do not need to bring a large quantity of textbooks, exercise books and materials to and from school.

* Give students clear instructions on the necessary learning materials to be brought for the next lesson.

* In selecting textbooks, consider, on top of educational values, their weight and size.

* Use loose-leaf or single-page worksheets as homework assignments as far as possible, preferably one at a time.

* Provide drinking fountains so that students do not need to bring their own water.

Parents have a role to play, also. Consider:

* Schools should explain to parents their possible contributions to reducing the weight of school bags.

* Parents' associations should give full support to schools in running campaigns on reducing school bags' weight. For example, mobilising parents to help with the weighing of school bags is useful to arouse the awareness of the issue among students and other parents.

* Apart from choosing light-weight school bags and stationery items, parents should remind their children to pack school bags daily according to the timetable and discourage them from bringing magazines, toys and unnecessary items to school.

* Should they find their childrens' bags to be overweight, parents should talk it over to find ways to solve the problem. The move can also enhance parent-child relationships.