Four ISU professors are trying to prevent juvenile farm-related injuries by studying the effects of carrying heavy farm materials on youth of different ages.

Many children have suffered long-term injuries after lifting heavy or bulky objects, the professors said. They said they hoped to figure out the cause behind this and how to help prevent it.

“Agriculture is the most hazardous occupation in the United States,” said Steve Freeman, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering. “Heavy carrying loads don’t initially cause severe injury, but they can cause long-term issues.”

Children carrying loads in containers that are too big or too heavy can suffer from developmental injuries or cumulative injuries, said Jason Gillette, assistant professor in health and human performance.

These are injuries that don’t become prominent until later in life, Gillette said.

“This is something that should be getting more attention,” he said. “We know injuries are happening but children haven’t been studied, so it’s difficult to pinpoint where the injuries are coming from.”

The goal of this three-year study is to investigate the potential risks of injury for farm children carrying heavy loads and to make recommendations regarding the proper weight of the load and the container size used.

“It’s fairly common for parents to start kids helping around the farm with carrying tasks before mechanical tasks,” Freeman said.

There are current guidelines available in handbooks from the National Institute for Occupational Safety for parents and farmers defining farm tasks by age, he said, but this study will make recommendations on farm tasks based on size, not age.

“Kids vary by age, so carrying loads should be based on percentage of body weight not age,” Freeman said. “Age is not a good indicator.”

Charles Schwab, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, and Tim Derrick, associate professor of health and human performance, are also involved in the study.

Data will be collected and evaluated from four different test groups consisting of 10 females and 10 males. The test groups are divided up by four age groups — 8 to 10, 12 to 14, 15 to 17, and adult. The adult test group consists of ISU students, Gillette said, while the youth test groups will consist of volunteer 4-H kids.

Each person in the test groups will carry different containers varying in size, shape and weight to determine the affect on joints, posture and walking patterns.

“The size of a bucket may not be an issue for adults, but it can be awkward for an 8-year-old,” Gillette said.

While each person carries the containers, they will be walking over a force plate that measures the amount of pressure exerted downward, Freeman said. About 30 to 40 reflective markers placed on the joints will also be tracked by a computer to model joint movement while walking with a load.

“We’re looking for the amount of weight that causes changes in posture or walking patterns,” Freeman said. “We want to see how much they can carry before they have to adapt or accommodate for the weight.”

The data collected will be analyzed and distributed in an informational handbook to parents and farmers employing youth on their farms.

“We’ll have hard data to make more practical recommendations to parents and farmers,” Freeman said.