[A study concerning how much weight schoolchildren carry in their bags, involving four schools in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina].

Objective: Determining the weight children carry in their bags to school (absolute and relative values) and the distance walked during home-school routes, involving students from four schools in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.

Method: The study involved 751 primary (4th to 6th grades) and secondary (1st to 3rd years) level students who were attending three private schools and one public one. Body and bag weights were measured and the children were asked about the distance (in blocks) they walked from school to home.