The Weight a Tilted Head Actually Carries
A child's head weighs roughly 5 kilograms in neutral position. Tilt it 15 degrees forward to look at a phone, the position most children hold during screen time, and the effective load on the cervical spine climbs to about 27 kilograms. At 60 degrees of forward tilt, that load reaches 27 kilograms of compressive force, according to a widely cited 2014 study by Dr. Kenneth Hansraj published in Surgical Technology International. Pediatric spines, which are still ossifying through adolescence, absorb this load differently than adult bone. The cartilaginous growth plates at the vertebral endplates are particularly vulnerable to sustained compression during the years when spinal geometry is being set.
