Global Journal of Medical Research, K: Interdisciplinary, Volume 22 Issue 4

Investigating the Facets of Physical Activity Related to Schoolbag Carriage- Highlighting the Lacunae that Exists Ruchira Mukherjee α , Rajarshi Chanda σ , Devashish Sen ρ , Subhashis Sahu Ѡ & Aparna Mukhopadhyay ¥ Abstract- Schoolbag carriage is the most common physical activity performed among school children. The relevant scientific explorations in this regard, has entailed investigation of consequent pain, muscle activity and related fatigue. General fatigue reportedly alters the sensation of thirst and salivary viscosity. Fatigue, thirst and saliva viscosity is also related to neurological performance and alacrity. Moreover, general fatigue is also reflected in eye muscles and visual processing is an integral part of learning in school children. The purpose of this review is to explore these facets of physical activity in relation to schoolbag carriage and in the process extracting the lacunae that exists in exploring the physical activity schoolbag carriage. Keywords: schoolbag carriage, saliva viscosity, thirst, cognition, fatigue, critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF). I. I ntroduction very school-going child, irrespective of their social standing and/or how sedentary a lifestyle they lead, has the physical activity of schoolbag carriage in common. In India, absence of lockers and a very demanding school curriculum, not only makes the schoolbags very heavy, but also its carriage mandatory. It is of utmost importance to explore all facets and effects of this physical activity, given that all subsequent activities within the school curriculum begins after at least a single bout of schoolbag carriage required to reach the classrooms from home. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines physical activity as energy expended in any form by the skeletal muscles. Physical activity not only improve one’s overall well-being, but also enhances thinking, learning and judgment skills 1 . Given that these skills are a focal point of school education, this further bolsters the importance of schoolbag carriage. This particular physical activity should therefore be explored not only in Author α : Research scholar, Department of Life Sciences, Presid ency University, West Bengal. e-mail: ruchiramukherjee21@gmail.com Author σ : M.Sc., Department of Physiology, Department of Life Scien ces, Presidency Univer sity, West Bengal. e-mail: rcsphs@gmail.com Author ρ : Professor, Depa rtment of Life Sciences, P residency University, West Bengal. e-mail: dsen.dbs@presiuniv.ac.in Autho r Ѡ : Associate Profess or, University of Kalyani, West Bengal. email: skcsahu@yahoo.co.in Corresponding Author ¥ : Assistant Professor, Department of Life Scien ces, Presidency University, Wes t Bengal. e-mail: aparna.dbs@presiuniv.ac.in terms of skeletal muscle response but also in terms of cognition and motor ability. The impact of physical activity in its varying intensities have been well documented 2,3 . Schoolbag carriage can be a moderate or high intensity physical activity based on the amount of load being carried 4 . Intense physical activity is generally characterized with fatigue 5 and schoolbag carriage related fatigue has been previously reported 6 . Overall fatigue can be reflected in eye muscles and be quantified using Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency (CFFF) 7 . CFFF is vital for children given that a major portion of school curriculum entails viewing the blackboard or projector screen. Fatigue resultant from schoolbag carriage to reach the school may also interfere with concentration of a child subsequently affecting scholastic performance. Apart from overall fatigue being reflected in the eye muscles, increased heartbeat, increased thirst and saliva viscosity 8 are also characteristic of physical activity. Increase in sensation of thirst is observed as the intensity of physical activity increases 9 . Increased thirst is delineated to increase saliva viscosity 5 . Reportedly, thirst and physical activity together cause changes in neurological alacrity 10 . Cognitive and motor performance is seen to be impacted due to fatigue and thirst 11,12 . Scrutinizing the physical activity of schoolbag carriage is hence incomplete without exploring its effect on thirst, salivary viscosity and cognition. The effect of physical activity on all the aforementioned factors-fatigue reflected in CFFF, thirst, cognitive and motor performances are inter-related, co- dependent and modulate each other. Given the importance of fatigue on the ability to focus on academic curriculum and the importance of cognition in children, investigating the influence of the physical activity of schoolbag carriage and its intensity on these parameters can be insightful and is topical. II. M ethodology Numerous papers were reviewed relevant to the topic in hand and arranged into subheads that are included in the scope of this particular review. Some data were not available or were not apparent and unclear, such studies were excluded. E 1 Year 2022 Global Journal of Medical Research Volume XXII Issue IV Version I ( D ) K © 2022 Global Journals