About 1.8 billion people live in houses where water is not present on the premises and the occupants have to travel some distance to fetch it.Apparently, the responsibility to bring water majorly falls on women and girls…

About 1.8 billion people live in houses where water is not present on the premises and the occupants have to travel some distance to fetch it.Apparently, the responsibility to bring water majorly falls on women and girls above 15 years of age, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its 2023 report, in any typical household.If the hours spent in walking up to the nearest water source, for instance, a well, is added up for women all over the world, it amounts to a surprising sum of 250 million hours, research has suggested.In India, it is a common sight to see women in rural settings, carrying plastic or earthen pots on their head to get water for home.Not just the hours they spent in doing so, the act of carrying load on head itself has been a health concern for the longest, with many contradicting studies on the avoidable activity.Bengaluru’s 4,800-km-long problem: City’s water pipelines laid nearly 50 years ago face leakages, repeated repairsTrue for farmers as wellThe problem of head loading is not limited to water fetching, it stretches to other areas like agriculture, goods transportation workers or even the Sherpas who carry people as loads in the Himalayas.According to Down To Earth, currently the average farming population is aged between 50 and 55 years, with a very small fraction of the younger generation showing interest to carry it after them.Hence, many middle aged farmers habitually engage in carrying heavy burdens on their head, using bands or straps that may assist the movement.But the question remains— how safe is it for people to lift loads on their head and does it cause any musculoskeletal damage?Concept of free ridingSome studies in the past have argued that the load one carries on the head does not independently require energy and rather moves along the body’s natural movement.In simple terms, the force created by legs and calf muscles tend to counteract with the torque or turning force generated by the load. Since all the forces acting on the body gets balanced out, the load gets a ‘free ride’ on a porter’s head.However, experts argue that it doesn’t indicate the physical impact of the load on a carrier’s spine is any less.Changes in curvatureAccording to the Asian Spine Journal, who asked about 35 construction workers to carry about 12 bricks and walk up to some distance, they noted that repeatedly carrying heavy loads on the head caused structural damage to the neck’s structure.Among the habitual load carriers, the authors observed that there is loss of natural curve in the neck which has a protective effect, there was a reduction in disc height (a cushion that sits between the vertebrae), and other degenerative changes.Similar research has suggested that carrying water can contribute to disability from musculoskeletal disorders in low income countries like South Africa, Ghana and Vietnam.What happens to the neck?As per a 1994 study, during load lifting, the muscles of the neck and the first seven vertebrae are under compression.Due to action happening over a distance and almost regularly, the load effect eventually gets transferred to the lower spine column.The inactivity of the muscles due to the burden of the load causes the blood supply to temporarily stop in the neck region, causing the waste to accumulate in the region and generating pain that radiates to other parts of the body.As per reports, this pain can exacerbate for young women, particularly during pregnancy.Contesting viewsThe evidence regarding head loading has remained contested, with some research suggesting that it can have a biomechanical advantage.As per a BBC report, the Sherpas in the Himalayas often carry head and shoulder load which exceeds their body mass and is supported by straps.According to experts, this requires a combination of both muscle strength and cardio efficiency to do it habitually over years.Even military load lifting has also offered the researchers an insight into what factors can enable a person to head massive loads without any metabolic disadvantage.ConclusionWhile some scientists are weighing the economics of heavy load lifting, others have found head loading associated with muscle strain, fatigue, lower back pain and other conditions.

Source: Deccan Herald