Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Lugging stuffed schoolbags is uncomfortable and could even damage your child. Deirdre Reynolds gets some practical advice on lessening that load.

MY 13-year-old daughter’s school bag weighs just under two stone.

THERE was good news for Ireland ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in London following the appointment of Dr Marie-Elaine Grant to the International Olympic Committee’s Medical Commission (Games Group).

HUNDREDS of millions of euro lost through absenteeism could be saved if proper rehabilitation programmes are put in place, physiotherapists have said.

The Irish Heart Foundation is launching its annual Move4Health campaign later today, aimed at encouraging people to exercise more.

THE chair of the GAA’s Medical, Scientific and Welfare Committee is to raise the Association’s decision to limit physiotherapy reimbursement as part of its player injury scheme with GAA president Christy Cooney.

THE ceasefire may have been announced last year but tangible evidence that the stand-off between the GAA and GPA is finally over arrived in Croke Park yesterday with news of the two bodies’ first joint venture.

THE HSE is no longer funding healthcare professionals to carry out mandatory training essential to work practices, it has emerged.

The Health Service Executive is no longer funding healthcare professionals to carry out mandatory training, because the HSE is seeking to cut its costs in the current exceptional economic circumstances.

OXEGEN festival-goers have been issued with a health warning about the dangers of enjoying themselves too much this weekend.

Physiotherapists urged adults today to get up and go and step up their physical activity.

ANOTHER 150 physiotherapy graduates have just hit the jobs market, just six months after the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists warned that 47% of last year’s graduates could not find work in this country.

THE Government has been accused of neglecting young people after Ireland was ranked as one of the worst EU countries for provision of physical education.

WITH Irish children getting less physical exercise (PE) at school than children almost anywhere in Europe, is it any wonder obesity is a major problem here?

The Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP) tonight welcomed the Budget's commitment to allocate additional funding to improve public health services in Ireland from 2007.

CHRONIC low back pain among farmers is the subject of a study being conducted by chartered physiotherapist Laura Keane.

Physiotherapists are warning that children risk contracting thumb injuries through excessive text messaging.

PUBLIC health spending will rise significantly if children do not have access to proper sport and exercise facilities at school, a leading health professional has warned.

ACCIDENTAL falls is a leading cause of death and disability among the elderly, according to health experts.

Further support has been shown for the workplace smoking ban due to be implemented in January.

KEEPING the Special Olympic flame burning in people’s hearts after the Games will be the biggest challenge of all, the chief coordinator of the European Year of People with Disabilities (EYPD) in Ireland declared yesterday.